The prevalence of microbial isolates associated with infertility in men attending clinic at OAUTHC, Ile-Ife

Abstract

Microbial infections of the genital tracts or semen could deteriorate spermatogenesis, affect sperm
motility, and alter chemical composition of the seminal fluid thereby leading to male infertility. This study
was designed to investigate the new trend of prevalence of microbial isolates in the semen of infertile men
and the susceptibility patterns of bacteria isolates to most of the commonly used antibiotics. Following
WHO guidelines, one hundred and forty-three (143) seminal fluid samples were collected from infertile men
attending infertility clinic at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife
within January to December, 2011. The samples were allowed to liquefy and then cultured on MacConkey
agar, Saboraud dextrose agar, and Blood agar media incubated aerobically at 37oC overnight.
Staphylococcus aureus gave highest yield 51 (37.23%) followed by coagulase-negative Staphylococci 29
(21.17%) while Enterococcus faecalis 2 (1.46%) and Proteus spp 2 (1.46%) were the least isolated.
Polymicrobial infection and infertility were most common among men within 30 and 49 years and 20 and
49 years of age respectively. Most of the bacteria isolated were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin
but resistant to augmentin, amoxylin, and cotrimoxazole. The study shows that Staphylococcus aureus is
the most prevalent microbe associated with infertility in infertile men while ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin are
effective for the treatment of bacterial infection in infertile male.