INFECTIONS AFFECTING FERTILITY: MYCOPLASMAS AND RUBELLA
Mycoplasmas
Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are small organisms which are very common in all of us but found in higher quantities in couples who are not conceiving.
In the lab, mycoplasmas (including Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum) have to be grown on a special culture and whether they are tested or not can literally come down to a question of cost. For this reason they are not routinely tested on the NHS and most couples will need to go privately. But, as you will see, it is very important that, as a couple (whether trying to conceive or having experienced a previous miscarriage), you are screened for these very small pathogens.
In some clinics, when a sperm sample is analyzed it is also cultured to see whether any ureaplasma is present. This is because the presence of this infection can affect the quality of the sample, in some cases creating adhesions within the sperm. It has been found that the higher the number of ureaplasmas in the semen, the lower the zinc concentration. And we have seen how crucial good levels of zinc are for fertility.
The same study also found that the higher the number of ureaplasmas in the semen, the lower the fructose content. Fructose is a sugar normally found in semen. The absence of fructose in the semen can mean that the seminal vesicles are blocked, stopping both sperm and fructose from getting through. Some researchers have gone so far as to say that ureaplasmas are associated with male infertility, because when men were treated for the infection there was a significant improvement in the motility of their sperm.
The increase in these infections may be due to changes in sexual attitudes and the fact that certain conditions may increase their growth. For instance, it is known that mycoplasma proliferates when the Pill is used.
Unfortunately if a pregnant woman has an ureaplasma infection she can pass it on to her baby. Some interesting research, published in the New Scientist magazine in 1997, showed that if babies were infected by Ureaplasma urealyticum in the womb then they were more likely to develop asthma in later life. The researchers suggested that asthma could be prevented in some children if the parent were treated before conception.
Rubella (German Measles)
German measles contracted during childhood is a mild disease; and, once infected, the person builds up antibodies which give lifelong immunity to the illness. These antibodies can be measured by a blood test and the woman then knows whether she is ‘rubella immune’. The risk of contracting German measles during pregnancy is not to the mother but to the baby. If the mother develops this illness during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, there is up to five times greater a chance of the baby being born with congenital abnormalities (such as deafness, blindness and heart disease) or being miscarried.
If the woman finds out that she is not rubella immune then she may opt to be immunized before embarking on a pregnancy. One woman I know of, who did not want to be immunized, used a homeopathic remedy to which her body produced the rubella antibodies when subsequently measured on a blood test.
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