Just saw this story line but am not surprised by the results of the studies just why it has taken so long. Though most of the study is from Spain and many numbers come from the UK, it can be taken that it is the same in the USA. This has been suspected for a long time, just never confirmed. So it bears repeating, safe sex needs to be a part of of the life of anyone who is sexually active. From the story: Quote -- 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. 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, and preliminary results indicate that it may dramatically enhance pregnancy rates when couples are trying for a baby. 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, and studies have found infection rates as high as 5 per cent among older groups with a lower risk. ---Unquote The rest of the story can be read here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2658732.ece In the story line is mention of a number of males also being infected with mycoplasma, another bacteria that I am aware causes pneumonia but didn't not know it also infected via STI or STD route and don't know what problems it causes. So will see what I can find and list out later.
