Treatment
If you are infected with C. trachomatis, your health care provider will probably give you a prescription for an antibiotic such as azithromycin (taken for one day) or doxycycline (taken for 7 days). Or, you might get a prescription for another antibiotic such as erythromycin or ofloxacin.
Health care providers may treat pregnant women with azithromycin, erythromycin, or sometimes with amoxicillin. Penicillin, which health care providers often use to treat some other STIs, won't cure chlamydia.
If you have chlamydia, you should
- Take all your medicine, even after symptoms disappear, for the amount of time prescribed
- Go to your health care provider again if your symptoms do not disappear within 1 to 2 weeks after finishing all your medicine
- Not have sex until your treatment is completed and successful
- Tell your sex partners that you have chlamydia so they can be tested and treated, if necessary
These steps will help you avoid being reinfected with the bacteria. Repeated infections may increase the risks for reproductive complications.
For updated information on treatment for chlamydia, read the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines.
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