Chlamydia in Men

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 prespresent a permanent source of infection and a starting point for the spreading of this disease.