What are the symptoms of Chlamydia trachomatis in men?

Male Chlamydia trachomatis is a kind of body infectious disease, generally refers to the inflammation of male genital urinary system, mainly due to sexual transmission or bacterial transmission of a disease caused by a great harm to the health of male genitals, and the most obvious symptoms of male Chlamydia trachomatis are urethritis, or urinary pain, prostatitis and other symptoms.

Infection in men

It is mainly urethritis. The incubation period is 1 to 3 weeks. The clinical manifestations are mucous or mucopurulent secretions from the urethra, and there are symptoms such as urinary pain and urethral discomfort. Associated symptoms include epididymitis and prostatitis. The clinical manifestations of epididymitis are pain, swelling and tenderness on one side of the epididymis. When the inflammation is obvious, the skin on the surface of the scrotum is congested, red and edematous. Some patients have concurrent orchitis, with obvious swelling, flushing, severe pain in the scrotum, and thickening of the vas deferens. Prostatitis may have no obvious symptoms, or it may cause back pain, lower abdominal distension, etc. Proctitis mainly occurs in male homosexuals, especially those who engage in passive anal sex. The clinical manifestations range from no symptoms in mild cases to rectal pain, bleeding, diarrhea, and mucous secretions in severe cases.

Causes

Chlamydia trachomatis belongs to the Chlamydiales, Chlamydiaceae, Chlamydia genus in taxonomy. There are different subtypes, and the main one causing urogenital tract infection is the DK type. Chlamydia trachomatis is Gram-negative and needs to parasitize inside cells. The main pathological change of Chlamydia trachomatis infection is chronic inflammation, which causes tissue damage and can form scars in the later stage, affecting the function of organs.

1. Smear microscopic examination

It can be used for examination of conjunctival scrapings of newborns, but is not suitable for examination of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in the urogenital tract.

2. Cell culture method

This method is the most specific method for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis infection. This method can be used as a confirmation test and a cure test after treatment. It requires certain experimental equipment. It is not widely used in clinical practice.

3. Direct immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

It is a more practical detection method. However, it also has the disadvantage of insufficient sensitivity and may miss detection.

Commercial kits are available for rapid diagnosis of Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Results are available within half an hour. Disadvantages: Not sensitive enough.

5. Nucleic acid amplification test

There are commercially available polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits for diagnosing Chlamydia trachomatis infection. This method has very high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Nucleic acid testing should be carried out in laboratories accredited by relevant agencies.