Assessment of microbiological isolates from semen in men attending an infertility clinic in Meghalaya

Married couples all over the world face varying degrees of infertility. Semen analysis is the first and most important laboratory investigation of the male partner of an infertile couple. Infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa cause urogenital infections which account for about 15% of male infertility concerns. In this study, we explored the effect of bacterial infections in male factor infertility in an infertility clinic, Meghalaya, India by detecting abnormal sperms and other factors. Two hundred men's seminal fluid was examined for infertility using the Makler counting chamber and microbiological culture techniques to detect aberrant sperm and isolate bacteria respectively. 117 (58.5%) of 200 infertile patients tested positive for pathogenic bacteria. Average sperm motility in uninfected semen was 47.14 % compared to 34.21 % in infected samples. Enterococcus faecalis was most prevalent (26%) followed by Escherichia coli (15%). Bacterial infection is associated with detrimental impacts on various semen parameters. Semen microbiological culture is an underrated tool, not requested by many IVF specialists prior to fertility treatment. Antibiotic treatment needs to be administered to both husband and wife to avoid re-cross infection.