Nearly Two Million Young Americans Have Chlamydia

Hemera/Thinkstock(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1.8 million Americans ages 14 to 39 are infected with the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia.

The CDC arrived at the figure by polling over 8,000 people in that particular demographic who donated urine samples for STD testing.

Left untreated, chlamydia, which affects more women than men, can cause infertility and pelvic pain.

According to the study, approximately 4.7 percent of all sexually active women ages 14 to 24 have contracted chlamydia with the rate among African-American females in this age group at 13.5 percent.

What’s more, people with two or more sex partners are at greater risk of becoming infected as opposed to those with just one partner.

The CDC says that all sexually active women 25 and under should be screened for the disease, but typically fewer than half do so each year. Part of the problem is that the disease has no symptoms.

Meanwhile, most people with chlamydia can be cured through a regimen of antibiotics.

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