Chlamydia, the sexually transmitted infection (STI) carried by one in ten sexually-active young British adults can make men infertile by damaging the quality of their sperm, new research has shown.
While the condition, which usually passes undetected, has long been known to threaten female fertility, scientists from Spain and Mexico have now established that it presents similar risks for men.
Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield and secretary of the British Fertility Society, said: “We might think of chlamydia as a disease that damages female fertility, but it appears to damage male fertility, too. The thing that drives most men to sexual health clinics is symptons, and chlamydia is often sympton-free. Chlamydia is getting out of control and we have got to encourage men to go for screening.”
Men with chlamydia have three times the normal number of sperm with genetic damage that can impair their ability to father children, the study found.
Antibiotic treatment can reverse the effect, but the discovery suggests that the prevalence of the disease may be contributing to infertility across an entire generation of young adults.
Britain’s national screening programme has found that 10.2 per cent of both men and women aged 18 to 25 carry the bacteria. Figures from the Health Protection Agency reveal that cases of chlamydia have increased by more than 200 per cent in England in the past decade.
Chlamydia is easily treated with antibiotics but causes female infertility as a result of chronic infection, which causes damage to the Fallopian tubes. Once this has occurred it is not usually reversed by treatment.
In men, chlamydia can lead to swelling of the testicles or epididymis, and either can cause sterility if not treated.
Dr José Luis Fernández, who led the study, will present his findings today at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in Washington.
Mark Henderson, Science Editor
The Times
