Are Chlamydia Tests Accurate?

In chlamydia testing, for example, self-collected vaginal swabs led to a correct positive result 92 percent of the time and a correct negative result 98 percent of the time.

Can you test negative for chlamydia and still have it?

This is because the bacteria needs enough time to multiply within your body in order for it to reach a detectable level when taking a chlamydia test. For chlamydia this is often 14 days. If you test before that 14 days is over, you may test negative, but you could still pass the bacteria on following your test.

How likely is a false negative chlamydia test?

Summary. New diagnostic accuracy studies without major methodological limitations indicated that false-positive rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia were 3 percent or less, and false-negative rates ranged from 0 to 9 percent for gonorrhea and 0 to 14 percent for chlamydia across all NAATs and specimen types.