[Frequency and etiology of seminal infections in the study of infertile couples]

Male genital infections are a relevant cause in the etiology of infertility, due to abnormalities in sperm quality, affecting spermatozoal count and motility.

Identify the most common bacteria isolated from seminal cultures and their impact on seminal quality.

A retrospective, longitudinal and observational study was performed by reviewing 295 files of infertile males seen in our clinic of Reproductive Biology at the Hospital Juárez de México, in whom seminogram and seminal cultures were practiced for detection of seminal infection and quality assessment.

47% of cases presented infection by one or two bacteria, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus (alpha and beta hemolitic) and Escherichia coli prevailed. The main alterations in quality were motility, pH, morphology and viscosity in association with S. epidermidis and E. coli.

Nearly half of our group of study disclosed seminal infections and it resembled the percentages reported in the literature; most of them were asymptomatic. In disparity with other reports the most common bacterial agent found in association with changes in seminal quality was a skin saprophyte.