$Unique_ID{BRK01218}
$Pretitle{Infections or Parasites, Genitourinary System}
$Title{How Does Mumps Affect the Male's Reproductive System?}
$Subject{fertility testicles mumps}
$Volume{A-22, J-22}
$Log{}

Copyright (c) 1991   Tribune Media Services, Inc.


How Does Mumps Affect the Male's Reproductive System?


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QUESTION:  Could you please be so kind as to explain male sterility due to
mumps contracted during puberty?  I have been married 6 years and I haven't
been able to get pregnant.  How does this illness affect the male's
reproductive system and is there any cure for it?

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ANSWER:  Mumps is a disease that is found worldwide, and by fifteen years of
age more than 90 percent of people living in urban areas have blood test that
reveal that they have been exposed to the disease.  It most often occurs in
children between the ages five to nine years, but those statistics are
changing due to the use of a mumps vaccine that was first available for use in
1967.  The cause of the infection is a virus that is passed through contact
with secretions from an infected individual's nose, mouth and throat.  About
one third of the time the disease proceeds with no symptoms at all, except for
a slight fever and malaise.  However the most noticeable feature of the full
blown attack is swelling of the parotid gland located in the cheek in the
cheek, as well as other salivary glands.  It may also affect the testicles of
men past puberty in from 10 to 20 percent of the cases.  It then is called
"orchitis" or inflammation of the testicles.  It may touch one or both sides,
and according to some articles in the literature may rarely affect sterility,
or according to other experts produce sterility in as many as half the cases.
The viral infection attacks the sperm producing cells and destroys them,
leaving the testicle atrophied or shrunken.  Fortunately the cells which
produce the masculine hormone are not affected, and so levels of male hormone
remain normal throughout life.  Once the damage has been done, there is no
treatment available to regenerate the sperm producing cells.  When the problem
is sterility, a complete work up must be performed, to determine the number
and activity of sperm that may be present, and to evaluate the potential for
fertilization.  If the findings indicate that this might occur, you too, must
be examined for possible problems that are standing in the way of pregnancy,
which should then be treated and corrected as well.  Although a history of
mumps is important in fertility problems, it must not be considered the
culprit until all the possibilities have been examined.
ÿ
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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace 
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your 
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical 
problem.
