From the Guidelines
You should wait at least 7 days after completing treatment for chlamydia before having intercourse. The standard treatment for chlamydia typically involves antibiotics such as azithromycin (a single 1g dose) or doxycycline (100mg twice daily for 7 days) 1. Even though symptoms may improve quickly, the infection needs time to fully clear from your body. During this 7-day period, the antibiotics are still working to eliminate the bacteria completely. Having sex too soon could risk transmitting the infection to partners even if you feel better.
Key Considerations
- It's also important that all your recent sexual partners get tested and treated to prevent reinfection 1.
- After completing treatment, you should get retested in 3 months to ensure the infection is gone, especially if you're at higher risk for reinfection.
- Remember that using condoms consistently helps reduce the risk of future sexually transmitted infections.
Additional Guidance
- To minimize transmission, persons treated for chlamydia should be instructed to abstain from sexual intercourse for 7 days after single-dose therapy or until completion of a 7-day regimen 1.
- To minimize the risk for reinfection, patients also should be instructed to abstain from sexual intercourse until all of their sex partners are treated 1.
From the FDA Drug Label
Uncomplicated urethral, endocervical, or rectal infection in adults caused by Chlamydia trachomatis: 100 mg, by mouth, twice a day for 7 days.
The treatment of chlamydia with doxycycline is for 7 days. It is recommended to wait until the treatment is completed before having intercourse. Therefore, you should wait at least 7 days after starting treatment before having intercourse. 2
From the Research
Treatment of Chlamydia
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends either a single dose of azithromycin or a 7-day course of doxycycline to treat chlamydial infection 3.
- The use-effectiveness of single-dose and multidose therapy was comparably high, with observed rates of persistence or recurrence consistent with reported rates of pharmacological treatment failure 3.
Waiting Period for Intercourse
- There is no specific recommendation on how long to wait to have intercourse after treatment of chlamydia, but it is generally recommended to wait until the treatment is completed and any symptoms have resolved.
- A study found that women with chlamydial infection who were treated with azithromycin or doxycycline had similar rates of microbiological cure at 1 month after treatment, regardless of whether they had intercourse during the follow-up period 3.
Comparison of Antibiotics
- Azithromycin and doxycycline are equally efficacious in achieving microbial cure and have similar tolerability for the treatment of genital chlamydial infections 4.
- A meta-analysis found that doxycycline had a higher microbiological cure rate than azithromycin for the treatment of rectal chlamydia 5.
- Another study found that azithromycin probably has fewer adverse events than doxycycline in men and women treated for chlamydia 6.
Recommendations
- The choice of antibiotic for the treatment of chlamydia should be based on individual patient factors, such as allergy history and potential side effects 6, 4.
- Patients should be advised to complete the full course of treatment and to avoid intercourse until the treatment is completed and any symptoms have resolved.