Prevalence of genital chlamydia and mycoplasma infection in couples attending a male infertility clinic.

To investigate the prevalence of genital mycoplasma (Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis) and Chlamydia trachomatis infections in infertile and fertile couples, 135 infertile couples from a male infertility clinic and 88 fertile couples from a prenatal care clinic were randomly screened. Semen, urethral and cervical smears were cultured for genital mycoplasma and chlamydia. Antichlamydia IgA, IgG and IgM antibodies were tested in blood and semen. Although the overall prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum was higher than that of Mycoplasma hominis, the prevalence of Mycoplasma hominis was significantly higher in the infertile men and women. The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis, positive culture was higher in infertile couples, but this difference was not significant. The prevalence of serum-specific IgG was significantly higher in infertile than in fertile women (11.9 vs 3.4%, p < 0.05). Specific semen IgA was significantly higher in infertile than in fertile men (8.9 vs 1.1%, p < 0.015). A low rate of concordance between partners was found in Mycoplasma and Chlamydia culture, and in the same patient between seminal IgA and urethral culture. In conclusion it is necessary to check both culture and serology findings in both partners.