Chlamydia possibilities

[Cpt101]

Hello Dr,
This is the timeline of my exposure(s):
start of August(approx 3rd) unprotected (2-3 minutes before putting on a condom) sex with ex partner,
Mid august start dating current partner, unprotected sex from mid september,
24th sept decided to get a panel of tests (HIV, Ghon, Chlam, Syphilis, Hep) as its a new relationship, All negative except for Chlamydia, despite no symptoms

I'm not interested in a blame game, it's not important, but am arming myself with info so I can explain it to my new partner.

Is it possible I acquired the infection from my exposure in early August (or perhaps earlier) and not have symptoms at present (or ever as I'm now taking medication)?
or does the lack of symptoms suggest its a newer infection?
How long usually can a male have  the infection and not show signs?
and if there were symptoms would that indicate a newer infection than the one early August?

Thank you in advance.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome back to the forum.

I'm puzzled by your exposure history -- unless by chance you happened to pick a user name already chosen by another forum participant (http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Concerned-over-exposure/show/1333661).  That thread suggests you also had an oral-only exposure to a sex worker in Thailand somewhere between your ex-partner event in early August and start of your new relationship more recently.  As we discussed there, it was unlikely you would have acquired any STD during the oral-only event, especially chlamydia.

Based on the information in this thread, it simply is not possible to tell whether your chlamydial infection was acquired from your ex or new partner -- but it clearly was one of those, i.e. not from the oral-only event.  The main chlamydia symptom in men is discharge of cloudy fluid from the penis, often small in amount and easy to miss, with or without mild discomfort on urination.  Usually symptoms start 7-14 days after catching the infection.  Probably about half of all men with chlamydia don't get symptoms at all.  So you could just as easily have an infection since early August versus picking it up from your new partner.  (But I can't tell from your previous thread whether you had a negative test result somewhere between early August and now -- in which case, your infection came from your new partner, not your ex.)

If you caught the infection from your new partner, then obviously she is infected; and if you had it before, you exposed her.  Either way, she definitely needs to be treated, and ideally should also be tested.  But she must be treated even if her test is negative.  Your ex-partner also needs to be informed and treated, if there was no negative chlamydia test after your last sex with her.

I hope this helps.  Regards--   HHH, MD

[Cpt101]

Thank you for your reply,
The previous post was written by my friend who was extremely anxious about his experience in Thailand, and to appease him I let him use my profile to ask a question (and your response to that helped him greatly).  Sorry if it confused you, I didn't realize that these posts were linked.

The timeline posted here was the one relating to me, and your information is helpful, thank you again for your time.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

MedHelp isn't keen on more than one person with the same username.  No important harm done, although this does mean neither you nor he can post another question on this forum for at least 6 months -- 2 questions during any 6 month period is the limit for the professionally moderated forums (see Terms and Conditions).

Anyway, glad to have helped both of you.