Can Chlamydia Test Be Wrong?

Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases among men and women in the United States of America. This sexually transmitted disease can spread easily among sexual partners, often unknowingly since the disease often does not show any serious symptoms.

According to research almost 75 percent of women and 50 percent of men suffering from chlamydia do not show up any symptoms. In fact, it is not easy to confer whether an individual has chlamydia infection or not since the symptoms of this infection are not always apparent.

Even if the infection shows some apparently visible symptoms, it is only after one to three weeks after the sexual contact. A Chlamydia test is advised by the doctor in order to confirm the presence of such infection. But can the chlamydia test be wrong and give false negative or false positive results?

Visible Symptoms of Chlamydia Infection

Some of the Visible Symptoms of Chlamydia Infection among Women

• The abnormal vaginal discharge which might have an odour
• Bleeding between menstrual cycles
• Quite painful menstrual cycles
• Pain while having sexual intercourse
• Pain while urinating
• Itching or burning sensation around the vaginal area
• Abdominal pain along with fever

[Read – What Causes Lumps or Bumps on Labia Minora]

Some of the Visible Symptoms of Chlamydia infection among Men

• Pain while urinating
• Small amounts of cloudy or clear discharge from the tip of the penis
• Pain and swelling around the testicles
• Burning and itching sensation around the opening of the penis

What Happens In A Chlamydia Test?

Chlamydia tests are the only method to diagnose and confirm the Chlamydia Infection. Such chlamydia tests are usually painless and do not take much time. Chlamydia screening is usually recommended for the following people

• Sexually active women in the age group of 25 or below
• Pregnant Women
• Women and men at high risk (usually those who have multiple sex partners)

Specific diagnostic tests are suggested by the doctors in order to confirm the diagnosis of Chlamydia. The doctor or the laboratory technician would probably use a swab in order to take a sample from the urethra of a male patient or from the cervix of the female patient which would then be sent to the laboratory for tests and analysis.

Such swabs help in gathering cell samples from the urethra, vagina, cervix, or anus of the individual patients by rubbing a cotton swab over the genitals. The swab collected from the patients is usually used for antigen testing for Chlamydia. The same can also be checked during a routine Pap test as well.

Certain other tests for Chlamydia include the use of a urine sample to check the presence of bacteria. Usually, patients who have undergone treatment for Chlamydia infections should get a retest done in about three months.

[Read – Can UTI Be Transmitted From Woman To Man]

Can Chlamydia Test be Wrong?

While the Chlamydia test is the only way to diagnose and confirm the presence of such infection, one needs to understand that no test is foolproof. There are chances that the Chlamydia test can be wrong in diagnosis. Most often false negative results are obtained in the case

• The Test Samples Are Taken Too Soon After Having Sex: In order to test Chlamydia, the patients need to give their swab samples after two weeks from the time of sexual activity and in certain cases, the infection can be visible even up to six weeks.
• The Urine Test Samples Are Taken Too Soon After Urination: The patients are advised not to urinate for at least two hours before giving the test samples.

“A research regarding the accuracy of the diagnostic tests revealed that false negative chlamydia test percentage is between 0-14% while false positive Chlamydia test percentage is 3% or less ”

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease and chlamydia infection can be passed on during vaginal, oral, or rectal sex. However, there might arise a situation where an individual tests positive for chlamydia while his/her sexual partner tests negative.

In such a scenario, the individual testing negative might have been a carrier of the infection from a previous relationship and have not passed on the infection to sexual partners yet (most likely the sexually transmitted infection have not been passed during the first sexual interaction after the infection). Such a carrier of Chlamydia might have tested negative since the sample given for testing was not a good specimen as mentioned above.

In case there is a confusion regarding whether chlamydia test can be wrong, it is advisable to check with the physician and repeat the test following the guidelines mentioned above.