Chlamydia infection in men comes without any symptoms in
more than half of the cases. This disease can occur in a wide range – from
asymptomatic urethral infections to symptomatic inflammation of the urethra,
epididymides and infertility. It is worth mentioning that men usually don’t
experience long-term consequences unlike women. Now let’s analyze some of the
forms of Chlamydia in men.
1. Reiter’s
syndrome
There are latent, relatively rare complications of
chlamydial genital infection in terms of autoimmunity because of the similarity
of certain chlamydial antigens with human antigens. One example of such disease
is Reiter’s syndrome which consists of changes in the eyes, skin and joints and
urethritis. The Reiter’s syndrome is also known as chlamydial arthritis or
reactive arthritis and represents an postinfectious autoimmune disorder that
develops in about 2% of men with non-specific urethritis. Some of the typical
symptoms of this syndrome include arthritis, uterthitis, conjunctivitis and dermatitis.
The first symptoms occur after 3 to 6 weeks and in most cases the disorder is
gone after 2 to 6 months. In some patients this disease appears again.
2. Epididymitis
About 70% of cases of Epididymitis in adult men are caused
by Chlamydia. Epididymitis (semen inflammation) is an unusual site of infection
and represents only 2% of all genital Chlamydia infections in adult men.
However, as we have mentioned before, most of the cases are cause by Chlamydia.
The symptoms include fever, urethritis, unilateral testicular and scrotal pain
and swelling. Clinical signs include sensitivity and increase of the
epididymis.
Non-specific or
non-gonococcal urethritis
More than 50 of all non-specific urethritis are caused by
Chlamydia. This is especially the case in young men. This is why Chlamydia is
one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases today. Chlamydia in men is
most commonly caused by non-specific, atypical or non-gonococcal urethritis,
inflammation of the urethra.
After a sexual intercourse with an infected person, the
incubation (time of the entry of the cause until the first signs of the
disease) is between one and 3 weeks. A special feature of chlamydial urethritis
and other non-specific urethritis variations is a relatively mild clinical picture
which manifests bright or poor discharge from the urethra, with the possibility
of slight interference with urination (micturition disturbances in the form of
burning sensation, frequent urge for urination etc.) and possible moisture and
redness outside the entrance of the uterthra at the tip of the genitals.
The symptoms of the disease can be mild, barely noticeable
and often completely absent. Therefore, the infection can pass into a chronic
form in which sufferers can notice occasional bright discharge or some of the
aforementioned disorders of urination. The chronic phase doesn’t mean that the
disease will soon disappear, on a contrary, chronic chlamydial urethritis can
lead to complications such as prostatitis, epididymitis and in rare cases it
can lead to infertility in men.
Men, just like women, with unrecognized and untreated
chlamydial genital infection represent a permanent source of infection and a
starting point for the spreading of this disease.