It is without a doubt that men and women do not understand the danger of leaving chlamydia untreated otherwise how can we explain the climbing rates of infection in the UK? Chlamydia can render women infertile so it is vital to get tested for this extremely common infection especially before trying to conceive. People are also not aware of the fact that 70% of women who are infected and 50% of men who are infected do not have symptoms, making Chlamydia a very dangerous infection. If left untreated, chlamydia can cause serious consequences.
Without treatment, Chlamydia remains in the body before infecting the fallopian tubes which can then cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID). It is this disease that causes infertility by blocking the fallopian tubes. All fertility clinics will test a couple for chlamydia before they try to conceive however, it may be too late at this stage. Since the infection is symptomless in many cases, women and men are strongly advised to get tested each time they change partner.
Another infection which is often linked to reproductive problems is Ureaplasma. There is very little hard evidence proving how the infection affects our ability to conceive or how it affects the pregnancy itself however, in theory, if the infection is present in the male’s semen when the baby is conceived, it is thought that there is a greater risk of miscarriage later on in the pregnancy. Most private fertility clinics will test the male’s semen sample for this bacterium. If it is present, it can be cleared up with a short course of antibiotics.