nounplural noun chlamydia, plural noun chlamydiae/kləˈmɪdɪiː/

• A very small parasitic bacterium which, like a virus, requires the biochemical mechanisms of another cell in order to reproduce. Bacteria of this type cause various diseases including trachoma, psittacosis, and non-specific urethritis.

  Genus Chlamydia and order Chlamydiales

  ‘For example, if the herpes virus or chlamydia bacteria get into the eye, the symptoms tend to be more severe and last longer.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Several other organisms such as mycoplasma or chlamydia also can cause pneumonia.’
  • ‘Because chlamydiae are bacteria, antibiotics can thwart the infections they produce.’
  • ‘The phenomenon of a high degree of antigenic cross reactivity within different serovars of C. trachomatis and different species of chlamydiae inducing cross-reactive antibodies makes interpretation difficult.’
  • ‘Laboratory tests are carried out for gonococcus and sometimes trichomonas and chlamydia, depending on the technology available.’