Background and objectives: The risk of infection with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is of great concern to couples undergoing therapeutic donor insemination.
Goal of study: We sought to determine the prevalence of STDs in potential semen donors and assess the rate of acquisition of new infection during the follow-up period.
Study design: 29 potential semen donors were screened for common STDs.
Results: The study population had a prevalence of the following STDs: 27.5% ureaplasma, 13.8% mycoplasma, 6.9% cytomegalovirus 6.9% group B streptococcus, and 3.4% human papillomavirus infection. No participant tested positive for gonoccoccal or HIV infection. Over all, evidence of STD was present in 10 of 29 (34.5%) prospective donors. A follow-up infection rate of 22.2% (6 of 27 enrolled donors) was found and 3 (11.1%) of these were excluded from semen donation.
Conclusion: A high prevalence of sexually transmissible infections is present in potential semen donors. New infections are also common during the follow-up period.