Chlamydia 'harms male fertility'
Chlamydia could weaken male fertility, study finds
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Monday, 15, Oct 2007 11:21
Chlamydia could harm male fertility by damaging men's sperm, new research suggests.
The sexually transmitted infection (STI) has already been proven to reduce female fertility, with concerns raised as at least 50 per cent of infected men and 70 per cent of women do not have any symptoms.
According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), chlamydia is the most common STI with an increase of four per cent in cases from 2005 to 2006.
Spanish researchers found that the STI increases DNA fragmentation in sperm, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
They studied sperm DNA fragmentation in 143 men from infertile couples and compared it to a control group of 50 fertile males.
The level of fragmentation was 3.2 times higher than the controls and sperm concentration, ability to move and structure were also found to be impaired.
When 95 infected males were given antibiotics to treat the STI, the researchers found that the quality of sperm improved on average by 35.7 per cent after four months.
During the course of treatment nearly 13 per cent of the couples became pregnant and after treatment was finished nearly 86 per cent of couples achieved pregnancy.