Infections

Infection is defined as the process by which germs enter a susceptible site in the body and multiply, resulting in disease. Infection is a common problem in persons with Infertility. Persons with infertility are at increased risk of infection. According to us we have categorized infection into two major categories.
Acute

About Smallpox
Smallpox is a viral infection that is highly contagious, and historically has been associated with widespread epidemics among susceptible populations. It is one of the pestilent diseases that have been feared by mankind since antiquity. The fatality rate is 30% or higher in persons with a normal immune system, and survivors often are permanently disfigured due to extensive scarring. Case fatality rates would be much higher in people with weakened immune systems (ie, those with HIV, cancer, chemotherapy).

Mump
Mumps is an acute viral infection caused by the mumps virus, a member of the Paramyxoviridae family. Infection is characterized by swollen salivary glands, which are along the jaw line, below the ears, and within the cheek. It is generally a mild and self-limiting disease, in that there is no treatment and it has to run its course, but complications can occur.

Chronic

How does TB cause infertility ?
It does so only when it infects the genital tract . This is called genital TB. While the initial exposure to the tubercle bacillus is through the lungs ( because the bacillus is inhaled), most of us can fight off the infection, as a result of which it remains silent in the body, causing no harm. However, sometimes these latent bacilli can get reactivated, and then spread throughout the body through the blood stream. They can then get deposited in any part of the body, casuing a TB infection of that part. It is only when it lodges and infects the genital tract, that TB can cause infertility . In the man it causes tuberculous epididymo-orchitis, blocking the passage, as a result of which the man becomes azoospermic ( no sperm enter the semen because the tract is blocked). In the woman, it cause tuberculous endomteritis ( infection of the uterus) and salpingitis ( infection of the tubes). This infection can often be silent, and may not cause any symptoms or signs at all !

Genital TB is always hard to diagnose, because of the fact that it is a silent invader of the genital tract. The only reliable way of making a diagnosis is by actually culturing the tubercle bacillus from tissue sampled from the genital tract. Since it’s nearly impossible to take tissue from the fallopian tubes, in practice this means that the diagnosis is usually made by finding tubercle bacilli in the endometrial tissue, obtained by uterine curettage.

While a curettage is an easy procedure to perform, actually growing the bacillus in the lab , even in women with frank genital TB can be very hard, because this is a very temperamental bacillus, which grow very slowly in the microbiology lab. This is why few doctors try to grow the bacillus any more, and depend upon indirect evidence to cinch the diagnosis. The most reliable method is by making a histological diagnosis of tubercles. These are the typical lesions seen in tissue infected with the bacillus, and are usually diagnostic of the infection.

About Leprosy
Leprosy is a chronic infection caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria. It can affect the skin and the nerves of the hands and feet, as well as the eyes and the lining of the nose. In some cases, leprosy can also affect other organs, such as the kidneys and testicles in men. If left untreated, leprosy can cause deformities of the hands and feet, blindness and kidney failure.

Symptoms of leprosy
Leprosy progresses very slowly. Most people who have leprosy do not develop symptoms for at least a year after being infected by the bacteria. In most cases, it takes 5 to 7 years for symptoms to develop.

Leprosy damages the nerves and muscles, and may cause sores, lesions, lumps and bumps to appear on the skin. There are 2 types of leprosy: tuberculoid leprosy and lepromatous leprosy. Tuberculoid leprosy is the less severe and less contagious form of the disease. Lepromatous leprosy is more severe and generalized. It is also more contagious. This type of leprosy may affect organs such as the kidneys, testicles (in men), eyes and nose.

Symptoms may include
• Skin sores or lesions that do not heal after several months. Lesions are flat or slightly elevated and light in color or slightly red.
• Skin lumps and bumps that can be disfiguring.
• Numbness of the skin because of damage to the nerves under the skin.
• Muscle weakness

Prostatitis
Prostatitis is a frequently painful condition that affects mostly young and middle-aged men. Doctors may have difficulty diagnosing prostatitis because the symptoms are not the same for every patient, and many of the symptoms—such as painful or burning urination and incomplete emptying of the bladder—could be signs of another disease.

Types of prostatitis
Acute bacterial prostatitis is the least common of the four types and is potentially life-threatening. Fortunately, it is the easiest to diagnose and treat effectively. Men with this disease often have chills; fever; pain in the lower back and genital area; urinary frequency and urgency, often at night; burning or painful urination; body aches; and a demonstrable infection of the urinary tract as evidenced by white blood cells and bacteria in the urine. The treatment is an antimicrobial, a medicine that kills microbes—organisms that can only be seen with a microscope, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Antimicrobials include antibiotics and related medicines.

Chronic bacterial prostatitis also relatively uncommon, occurs when bacteria find a spot on the prostate where they can survive. Men have urinary tract infections that seem to go away but then come back with the same bacteria. Treatment usually requires the use of antimicrobials for a prolonged period of time. However, antimicrobials do not always cure this condition.

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is the most common but least understood form of prostatitis. It may be found in men of any age. Its symptoms go away and then return without warning, and it may be inflammatory or noninflammatory. In the inflammatory form, urine, semen, and prostatic fluid contain the kinds of cells the body usually produces to fight infection, but no bacteria can be found. In the noninflammatory form, not even the infection-fighting cells are present.

Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis is the diagnosis given when the patient does not complain of pain or discomfort but has infection-fighting cells in his prostate fluid and semen. Doctors usually find this form of prostatitis when looking for causes of infertility or testing for prostate cancer.

About prostate
The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that forms part of the male reproductive system. The gland is made of two lobes, or regions, enclosed by an outer layer of tissue. As the diagrams show, the prostate is located in front of the rectum and just below the bladder, where urine is stored. The prostate also surrounds the urethra, the canal through which urine and semen pass out of the body. The prostate squeezes fluid into the urethra to help make up semen as sperm move through during sexual climax. The prostate is part of the male reproductive system. It surrounds the urethra just below the bladder opening.