AboutMark Behar Expertise Almost any question or concern about sexually transmitted infections, abnormal Pap smears, anal cytology (anal "Pap smears"), gay men's health issues.
Experience Family Practice PA since 1981;
Volunteer Clinician for Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic, Milwaukee, since 1977; answer STD questions submitted to their web site.
Professionally lectured at national and regional Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner conferences, and at national gay & lesbian health conferences on topics including HIV/AIDS, herpes, hepatitis, STDs, human papilloma virus (the cause of venereal warts), abnormal Pap smears, gay and lesbian health issues, among others.
Organizations Distinguished Fellow, American Academy of Physician Assistants; Co-Founder, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Gay Physician Assistant Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Inc.;
Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants;
Florida Academy of Physician Assistants;
American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP)
Publications Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAPA)
Education/Credentials Physician Assistant Certified, since 1982;
Masters in Physician Assistant Studies;
Colposcopy Recognition Award, American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP);
Awards and Honors Colposcopy Recognition Award (CRA), from the American Association of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology
Past/Present Clients Brady East STD Clinic, Milwaukee, WI
Expert: Mark Behar Date: 5/11/2008 Subject: Chlamydia
Question QUESTION: I was just diagnosed with Chlamydia last week. I had a culture in September of 2007 and was negative. I have not slept with anyone but my husband. We broke up last March and he slept with other people. Is it possible that he contracted the disease and I had not contracted it by September but have since? He swears he didn't cheat but I find it unlikely that I got pregnant in July, was negative in September and now I have Chlamydia. Please let me know...thank you for your time.
ANSWER: Hi Dana,
Sorry to hear about your definitive diagnosis of chlamydia. Thankfully,the treatments are very effective, and after taking the medications correctly, you will be cured. However, your sex partner must also receive co-treatment, before resuming sex to avoid reinfection.
You got pregnant in July, was tested negative in September, but how many times (and with whom) did you have sex with from the negative September test to the present? Any sexual contact during that time could have resulted in your getting chlamydia. If you did not have any sex since September, than I have no idea how you may have contracted chlamydia, except for the possibility that the September test was falsely negative.
One other possibility is that you might have had sex without your knowledge, such as if you were drugged or unconsciouness, and contracted an infection as a result. Hopefully, such an awful thing did not happen.
Good luck,
--mark
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: WEll I had sex after Septemeber but only with my partner. Is it also possible that I could be having a false positive result if he tests negative and he is the only one I have been with. Also right before my september culture I had taken a dose, but not a full round of Tetracycline. About a month before. Could that have cleared it up enough to not show positve on a culture and then I got reinfected?
Answer Hello Again, Dana,
I can't really answer your questions, because it depends on exactly what type of chlamydia testing you had done. Many, but not all tests run now-a-days are DNA-based tests, that look for fragments of DNA from chlamydia. Now, you don't need live chlamydia in order to find fragments of DNA. So, if you could inactivate all the chlamydial DNA so that it is not infectious, the test would still be positive.
Your questions really need to be redirected to the doctor who initially ordered the tests, so that he/she can explain to you exactly what type of tests were done, and how to interpret the results. You would have needed a full course of tetracycline (or doxycycline, or azithromycin) to eradicate the infection; less than full course would not have effectively treated you. The test would remain truly positive, and you would be capable of infecting others.
