Anti Chlamydia Antibodies Iga Elisa Blood

Anti-chlamydia antibodies IgA test is used to, measure the levels of anti-chlamydia antibodies IgA in the blood.

What is Chlamydia?

Chlamydia is one of the most commonly found bacterial sexually transmitted infection and maybe lead to serious complications like a pelvic inflammatory disease in women, infertility, increased risk of tubal pregnancy which may be fatal, etc if left untreated. This infection is associated with mucous membranes of the urogenital system, eye, and upper respiratory tract. Early detection of this infection is very important to avoid long-term complications and also to prevent the infection from spreading to the other parts. This infection is most common in the age groups of 15-24 years. Most people with this infection do not exhibit symptoms or may experience mild symptoms. The transmission of this infection is mostly through sexual contact with the infected partner. It may be oral, anal or vaginal.

This test helps in diagnosing a chlamydia infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. This test is useful in detecting the site of infection, previous exposure to this antigens, duration of the disease. Mostly this infection is seen in sexually active individuals. This can be transmitted sexually.

Transmission of Chlamydia:

The risk factors for this infection include the previous infection with other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), co-infection with other STDs, being sexually active and having multiple partners, heterosexual men and having unprotected sex. If pregnant women are infected with chlamydia infection they may experience symptoms like premature rupture of the membranes, heavy bleeding or giving birth to babies with low birth weight. There are also chances of passing the infection to the baby at the time of childbirth. Such infected babies are at the risk of developing conjunctivitis which is inflammation of eyes or pneumonia. In the case of men if the infection is left untreated it may lead to infertility.

Why this test is performed?

This test may be recommended to you as a part of routine screening. In women, if you are sexually active with age of below 24 years and above 25 years, if you are pregnant this test may be recommended. Since most people do not exhibit symptoms this test is done as part of a routine check-up. This test is also recommended if your partner is positive of this test. Most common symptoms of chlamydia infection in women are abdominal pain, pain while urinating, frequent urination, painful intercourse, bleeding between menstrual periods, bleeding after intercourse, vaginal discharge, etc. In men, symptoms include frequent urination, pain while urinating, pain in testicles, tenderness or swelling of the testicles, milky discharge or pus from the testicles. The common symptoms in both men and women are pain, discharge, inflammation, itching, and bleeding from the rectal region. If these symptoms are experienced this test is recommended. If you recently gave birth and the baby experiences symptoms like redness and swelling of the eye, discharge from eyes (conjunctivitis) then this test is recommended for the parents. This test may also be asked if you are already on the treatment to check the effectiveness.

Frequency:

If you are sexually active this test may be recommended once a year. If you are diagnosed with chlamydia infection this test may be recommended for 3 months after the treatment.

Precautions:

If women, use of any vaginal creams or douches should be stopped 24 hours before undergoing the test. Some antibiotics may interfere with the test results, hence inform about your current medical condition and medications to the doctor or technician before the test.

If your test results are positive then it may indicate active chlamydia infection. Negative test results may indicate that there is no evidence of infection at the time of the test.