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What Affects the Test
Factors that can interfere with your test or the accuracy of the results include:
* Urinating before (within 2 hours) of collecting a urine sample or a sample of fluid from the urethra.
* Contamination of a rectal sample with stool.
* The use of antibiotics before the test.
* Douching or using vaginal creams or medications 24 hours before the test.
What To Think About
* If a chlamydia infection is suspected, avoid sexual intercourse until the test results have come back. If you have a chlamydia infection, continue to avoid sexual intercourse for 7 days after the start of treatment. Your sex partner should also be treated for a chlamydia infection to avoid reinfecting you or to avoid infecting others.
* Only one laboratory test (ELISA, DFA, PCR, DNA probe testing, or chlamydia culture) is needed to diagnose chlamydia. Your health professional usually chooses which test to use.
* Results from a chlamydia culture may take longer to obtain than results from the other tests.
* Your health professional is required to report your chlamydia infection to the state health department so the department can contact your sex partners to inform them that they also need treatment.
* For more information on the treatment of a chlamydia infection, see the topic Chlamydia.