Chlamydia During Pregnancy - Danger And Consequences For The Child

2023 Author: Riley Dean | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 08:37

Methods for treating chlamydia in current pregnancy

Content

• 1 The causes of chlamydia

  • 1.1 In adults
  • 1.2 In children
• 2 Methods of protection
• 3 Periods of illness

• 4 Symptoms of chlamydia

  • 4.1 Vaginal form
  • 4.2 Oral form
• 5 Dangers during pregnancy
• 6 How to find out if you have chlamydia?

• 7 Treatment during pregnancy

  • 7.1 Medicines

    • 7.1.1 Antibiotics
    • 7.1.2 Enzymes
• 8 When can you plan a pregnancy after chlamydia?
• 9 Forewarned is forearmed

Sexually transmitted diseases are dangerous to all people. A special place among patients of venereologists is occupied by pregnant women and couples planning to become parents. One of the most common diseases is chlamydia. Let's talk about whether or not it is possible to become pregnant with chlamydia, how the presence of an infection will affect the fetus and how to treat an unpleasant and dangerous disease.

The causes of chlamydia

In adults

The causative agent of the infection is chlamydia of the species chlamydia trachomatis. It enters the human body through sexual contact. According to average statistics, about 10% of the sexually active population has chlamydia. Often, carriers of the infection are unaware of it, since it can proceed without any external manifestations, but more on that later.

In children

The baby in the womb can get chlamydia from the mother. Penetrating through the amniotic fluid, chlamydiae enter the body and begin to actively parasitize in it. If the infection did not occur at the stage of pregnancy, then it is almost impossible to avoid it during childbirth. The child, passing through the birth canal, clings to harmful microorganisms. Chlamydiae are occupied by a variety of organs, but doctors note the greatest fitness in the lungs and eyes.

Protection methods

Protected sex

You can protect yourself during sexual intercourse by using contraceptives, namely condoms. Thanks to this simple, but very effective way, you will avoid the danger of catching a chlamydial infection.

When visiting public places such as baths, saunas and swimming pools, be sure to wear change of shoes (do not go barefoot). Use only a personal towel, or the one provided at the establishment, but always clean and ironed.

Disease periods

The incubation period can last from 14 to 30 days. At this time, the microorganism is attached to a healthy cell. The following tissues are most often selected for attack: fallopian tubes, urethra and conjunctiva.

The main period of the disease is the process of attachment of chlamydia to the cell, followed by the transformation of the body from elementary to reticular, i.e. living inside the cell. Intracellular bodies continue to divide and multiply, after which they destroy the cell.

A - the extracellular body enters the cell; B, C - the outer body becomes inner; D - internal bodies begin to grow and develop; E - new external bodies appear from the internal bodies; F - the cell collapses, and the outer bodies go out.

Chlamydia symptoms

Vaginal form

A woman cannot always determine the presence of a disease on her own. Chlamydial infection often occurs without any pronounced symptoms. Most often, patients with this disease have the following external signs:

1. Vaginal discharge. They have a strong unpleasant odor and are yellowish in color. They look like mucus or a mixture of mucus and pus.
2. Itchy sensations. Itching and burning appear on the genitals of the internal and external organs, especially noticeable when urinating.
3. Lower abdominal pain. Such pains should especially alert pregnant women, because chlamydia can hide behind harmless symptoms.
4. Bleeding. In the intermenstrual period, women may experience bleeding.

Additional symptoms may be the appearance of a slight increase in body temperature and general weakness, characteristic of intoxication.

Oral form

With the oral form of chlamydia, an infected person has the following symptoms:

• nasal congestion caused by the formation of a large amount of mucus in the nasopharynx;
• unpleasant smell of mucus;
• spreading thick mucus to the palate and tongue;
• difficulty breathing due to a swollen throat.

Dangers during pregnancy

Chlamydia infection threatens the unborn baby with the following dangers:

• Placental insufficiency. This leads to a disruption in the full supply of oxygen to the child's body.
• Violation of organ formation. Lack of oxygen (hypoxia) leads to poor development of the child's organs.
• The birth of a weakened baby, with low tone and diseases of the nervous system.
• The newborn suffers from vitamin deficiency, anemia and is underweight at birth.
• Frozen pregnancy and miscarriage. These forms are a rare case in chlamydia, but they still take place. The parent should be responsible and seek medical attention as soon as she suspects something is wrong.

How to find out if you have chlamydia?

It can be difficult to detect the presence of a disease. It is not enough to take a smear, it is the cellular element of the infected area that is required. For this, the doctor takes a scraping. Today, in the laboratory, analyzes are done in the following ways:

1. Polymerase chain reaction. This method allows you to detect the presence of the disease with a probability of up to 100%. The method is a molecular biological analysis of an infectious cell. When collecting and transporting material, complete hygiene should be observed so that the test results do not turn out to be false.
2. Linked immunosorbent assay. To establish the presence of an infection, the specialist must have at his disposal a scraping from the inflamed area and blood. With chlamydia, the doctor will detect IgG, IgA, IgM antibodies in the blood. Antibodies are produced by the body to protect against infectious bodies. In most cases, the first antibodies appear within 2-3 weeks after the disease has settled in the body. This method is often used in the complex diagnosis of chlamydia. Produced separately, the analysis gives an accuracy of only 60% in determining the presence of infection.

Stage of the disease	Antibodies	Titles
initial stage	IgA and IgM	high
	IgG	low
Active stage	IgA, IgM and IgG	average
Inflammatory process	IgA, IgM and IgG	high
Acute primary stage	IgM	high
	IgG	absent
No infection	IgA, IgM and IgG	absent

We have listed the most effective ways to detect the disease. Other test options are also available:

• Sowing on chlamydia. This method is very expensive and time consuming. Results are given with 80% accuracy.
• General smear. This microscopic examination is done on the basis of a smear from the vaginal area. This method is budgetary, but does not give good results. The accuracy is only 15% here.
• Immunofluorescence reaction. The smear is processed with a special substance, the reaction that has taken place is observed using a fluorographic microscope. The accuracy is 50% here.
• Mini tests. These small tests for home use can be purchased at the pharmacy at an affordable price. The accuracy of such tests is low - about 20%.

Pregnancy treatment

In the case of chlamydial infection, the doctor must decide if antibiotic treatment is needed. Of course, a specialist must act only having tests on hand and seeing the whole clinical picture.

Treatment of a pregnant woman requires maximum responsibility, because the health of two people is at stake. In most cases, the doctor prescribes additional examinations and tests that reveal the complete picture of the disease and find additional or side diseases.

The parasitic properties of chlamydia force the use of antibiotic drugs against them. To treat chlamydia during pregnancy, you need to choose a drug that has minimal risks for mother and fetus and at the same time good performance.

Medications

Antibiotics

The group of tetracycline antibiotics has a very wide range of side effects and is not suitable for use during gestation. Macrolide antibiotics have a milder effect on the body. Here are the drugs most commonly prescribed by doctors to treat this infection:

1. Erythromycin;
2. Amoxicillin;

3. Azithromycin.

   

   Erythromycin

   

   Amoxicillin

   

   Azithromycin

Together with antibiotic drugs, the doctor can prescribe immunostimulating suppositories: Viferon, Kipferon. It is known that any infection "sticks" to the body when it is weakened. A strong immune system professionally repels any attacks, and as soon as it weakens, all kinds of viruses and infections immediately enter the body.

Viferon

Kipferon

Therapeutic actions should be carried out in a comprehensive manner. It is important for a woman to trust her doctor and strictly follow all the prescriptions. Such a reasonable approach will not only get rid of the disease in the shortest possible time, but also protect the body in the future.

Enzymes

The doctor's task is to restore damaged cells and tissues, and for this it is necessary to prescribe an enzyme treatment. The latter help to strengthen the body from the inside and make it less prone to allergic reactions, which often occur with antibiotic treatment. Enzymes strengthen cell membranes, helping to restore healthy metabolism. Enzyme preparations are aimed at relieving puffiness and pain.

Thanks to the use of antibiotics in combination with enzymes, the latter increase the effectiveness of antibiotic drugs by 30%. Enzymes help improve blood circulation.

When can you plan a pregnancy after chlamydia?

When can you plan a pregnancy after chlamydia?

You can get pregnant even if you have chlamydia, but we have already talked about the negative consequences that a baby may undergo. Ideally, parents (both partners) should undergo therapy, fully recover (as the test results will tell), and only then plan a pregnancy. This approach will be both reasonable and humane.

Average duration of the treatment course: 3-4 weeks. After this period, patients are tested, the doctor examines the results. If chlamydia is not found, a second analysis is taken after another month. When this test is also negative, then the couple can prepare with a pure and calm heart to become parents.

Forewarned is forearmed

Young parents-to-be have a responsibility to take pregnancy planning seriously. Knowing the dangers of latent sexually transmitted diseases, one should not recklessly endanger the life of an unborn baby. Chlamydia is dangerous for both mother and baby. At a time when doctors did not have in their arsenal of methods for detecting chlamydia and did not know about their insidious danger, cases of miscarriages, frozen pregnancies were considered incomprehensible and mysterious.

Now, having before us clear evidence of the destructive effect of chlamydial bodies on the body, we simply cannot afford to close our eyes to this. Remember, Mom is in danger too. The disease can develop into more serious diseases:

• Ovarian inflammation;
• Malignant tumors of the cervix;
• Inflammation of the fallopian tubes;
• Endometritis and others.

Remember that the life of the child and his mother is in your hands. Get diagnosed for sexually transmitted diseases before planning a pregnancy, take care of your health, remember about contraception and hygiene, and follow the recommendations of your doctor.