Watch as Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, Associate Professor Of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease at the University of Washington in Seattle, explains chlamydia.

Dr. Marrazzo:
Chlamydia is a bacteria that actually is the most common bacteria of sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and it is a bug that basically infects women at their cervix, which is the opening to the uterus, or the womb. The problem with that is that once it gets there, women often do not realize they have it because it does not cause symptoms. So women do not have trouble with vaginal discharge or itching or burning or belly pain. It is a very sort of secret, stealthy infection, and the problem is that if you do not recognize and treat it, it can then get up into your pelvis. So it can get into the uterus, it can get into the ovaries, and it can cause inflammation and irritation up there that sets women up for long-term problems. Those long-term problems include things like problems getting pregnant in particular, problems with chronic pelvic or belly pain, problems getting pregnant in your tubes or tubal pregnancy. So it is just not a good thing for women, and the problem with that is it is incredibly common. We see it probably in our routine clinics between 1 in 10 and 1 in 7 women. So it is a really, really common infection that women need to know about and know how to protect themselves against.

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