The effectivness of urine tests for Chlamydia.

[wolfman2541]

According to my doctor I have urethritis.  The is no sign of a standard UTI.  She took a urine sample and examined it also under a microscope and told me she saw absolutely nothing.  She is sending the sample out for a Chlamydia test.  my question is, I was placed on an antibiotic for acne just a few days before the sample was taken.  The antibiotic is minocycline.  75mg twice a day.  By the time I had given a sample I had already taken 5 doses at 75mg.  If I did have chlamydia, what is the likelyhood that that antibiotic will give a negative result even if infected? Also, they took the sample in the afternoon and I had urinated about 2 1/2 hours beforehand.  Can I be confident in the results being accurate?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Yes, the antibiotic you took could have made the chlamydia test (and a gonorrhea test, if done) falsely negative.  With modern chlamydia testing, urinating beforehand isn't a problem--but the antibiotic is.

Regardless of whether you had chlamydia or not, your sex partner(s) in the past 2 months need to be examined and treated.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[wolfman2541]

Thank you, that was very helpful information.  I was also wondering.  When the doctor looks at the sample under a microscope, would she see any evidence of chlamydia?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

No.  Microscopic exam can show evidence of inflammation, but not the cause of the inflammation.

HHH, MD

[thisonegirl]

ok so i have a question about chlamydia. i had my first sexual experience which was protected but it was with someone who had multiple partners. about 2 months later i started dating someone exclusivley when we had sex i noticed i bled afterwards. so i asked the doctor who gave me a test for chlamydia. i was positive went thru the treatments. my boyfriend tested negative. the first guy i slept with tested negative and also another partner of that very first guy tested negative. since everyone tested negative but me and i was the least sexually active  is it ever possible to get chlamydia without it being sexually transmitted ir is it possible it was a wrong diagnosis?

[wolfman2541]

I read your question, I did ask my doctor and it is generally not possible to get it any other way than sexually.  If you got it from the first guy, by the time he got tested he could have already been on antibiotics for something else.  I have also been told by doctors that in guys, chlamydia can sometimes go away on it's own over time (sometimes in as little as 4 months) Now a far remote possibility which my doctor had informed me of is if someone else had it and they had touched themselves in the affected area and then you came in contact with their hands within a few (very few) minutes it is possible then to pass it non sexually.  But the likelyhood of it happening that way is almost nonexistent.