You may have chlamydia. If you do, you need to be treated for it. Your sex partner was recently treated for chlamydia, an infection you can get if you have sex with a person who is already infected. Many people with chlamydia do not know they have an infection because they feel fine.
Your partner may have given you a prescription or pills (azithromycin; also called Zithromax or a Z-Pak) for you to take. This medicine was given to your partner by a healthcare provider to treat you. This type of treatment is sometimes called expedited partner therapy. It’s better for you to go to your own provider to get tested for chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). But if you can’t go to get tested, then you should take the medicine in this package.
If you are a female and have symptoms of belly or pelvic pain, especially during sex, you should go see a healthcare provider to make sure that you do not have pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID can be very dangerous and lead to infertility, pregnancy problems, or pain that lasts a long time.
If you have any questions, please call your healthcare provider. If you think you may be having a bad reaction to this medicine, call your provider or drugstore. If you are having a serious reaction, such as trouble breathing, which is very rare, go to your nearest emergency room and bring the empty medicine packet with you.
Directions for taking azithromycin (Zithromax) 250 mg tablets
This medicine is very safe. However, you should not take it if you ever had an allergic reaction (such as a rash, trouble breathing, closing of your throat, swelling of the lips and tongue, or hives) after taking any medicines. If you are unsure about whether you have ever had an allergy to any medicines, call your provider or drugstore before taking this medicine. If you have a serious, longterm illness such as kidney disease, liver disease, heart disease, or stomach problems, talk to your provider before taking this medicine.
Swallow all of the enclosed pills. These pills should be taken one after another at the same time, not on separate days. Some people have a mild upset stomach, which does not last long, after taking this medicine.
After taking the medicine, do not have sex for at least 7 days. Do not share this medicine or give it to anyone else. It is important to tell any person with whom you’ve have had sex in the past 60 days to go to a healthcare provider and get tested for chlamydia.
Adapted from the Partner Study, Public Health – Seattle & King County and the STD Treatment Guidelines, CDC.
Gonorrhea is another STD for which expedited partner therapy is available. To find out more about gonorrhea, log on to cdc.gov. To find out more about chlamydia, log on to cdc.gov.
*Healthcare providers need to conform to their state legal requirements with respect to the use of expedited partner therapy. If the information in this Patient education page is applicable to the patients in your state and in your practice, then you are invited to photocopy the page and distribute it to patients who can benefit from this information.