Dormancy, transmitting back and forth

[confused in md]

My husband and I have been married six years and together for 5 years before then.  To the best of my knowledge neither one of us have been with another during the 11 years.  A week ago during a scheduled physical my husband asked to have a variety of tests performed as we were about to start trying to get pregnant.  The test results came back a few days later and to our surprise he was positive for chlamydia.  We both went to the doctor together the next day and I was tested as well and we are awaiting those results.  In the meantime our doctor gave us both prescriptions for Azithromycin just to be safe.  We have not taken them yet as we want my husband to be tested again to be sure there was not a false-positive result.
  
Based on our discussions recently and my extensive history with my husband I feel 99% certain that he has not been with any one else during our 11 years together.  But the evidence I read seems to overwhelmingly suggest that could not be the case.

Is it possible for either of us to have brought this STD in to the relationship with us from 11 years ago if neither one of us had been tested before?

It appears from some other postings that chlamydia wouldn't last longer than 4 years before clearing up on its own, but is it possible that we have been passing it back and forth amongst each other this whole time?

Although I don't want to be too naive, I am desperately hoping to find any evidence to suggest that there is a slight chance (however small) that he is being honest with me that he has been faithful all of these years just as I thought.  I have never had any reason to believe otherwise.  I do not want to consider ending a 6 year marriage and an 11 year friendship with untrue assumptions/accusations.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The first thing to clarify is what chlamydia test was done.  A chlamydia blood test often is done in evaluating couples for possible infertility.  If positive, it usually indicates past infection, not current.  (Some providers, mostly outside the United States, mistakenly use the test to try to diagnose current infection, often causing confusion due to falsely positive results.)  So if that's the test that was done, to be safe, he should have a urine test for current infection--but most likely he is not infected.

If your husband had standard testing of urine or a urethral swab, it still could be a false positive result, although the likelihood of this explanation depends a bit on the particular test that was done.  Of course you should have a non-judgmental, sensitive, heart-to-heart discussion with your husband about the possibility he in fact has had other partners.  As you already know, chronic carriage for 11 years is an unlikely explanation; such prolonged infection has never been documented (and rarely even suspected) in men.  That doesn't prove it can't happen, but it is the least likely of all the potential explanations for your situation.

I hope this helps.  Best wishes--   HHH, MD

[nsns]

Even if he has been unfathfull I don't think you should end the relationship with him if everything else is going well? Talk with him. I can tell you from experence that I was 100% faithful for 8 years in my relationship, then I came to the point of wanting to break off this great relationship just so I could go out and screw some new, I decided to cheat and it was the best thing for my relationship! I know it sounds crazy but now I apprciate my relationship more, and it really does mean nothing at all in most situations for the man. Good Luck..