Chlamydia may cause rectal infections in some people by spreading through the gastrointestinal tract after oral sex, according to a study of heterosexual men.
Past research has found that some women contract rectal chlamydia without ever engaging in anal sex, and it has been thought that the infection may have passed from the vagina to the rectum. To distinguish the pathways this sexually transmitted infection can take, David Nelson at Indiana University in Bloomington and his colleagues studied chlamydia in men at risk for the infection.
鈥淥ne of the main reasons we looked in heterosexual men was to reduce the possibility of auto-inoculation which seems more likely in women,鈥� says Nelson. The team analysed rectal swabs from 197 men with a median age of 28, and each man completed a questionnaire on their sexual history and health.
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There were 135 men who identified as heterosexual in the study. Of these,聽84 said they had performed cunnilingus in their lifetime and but had not engaged in other sexual acts that could expose the rectum to the infection, such as anal sex.
Out of these 84 men, two tested positive for rectal chlamydia. This suggests that the infection may have entered their body through the mouth, given that their only exposure was the urethra and the oral cavity, Nelson says.
Previous work has shown that chlamydia can survive the low pH levels common in the gastrointestinal tract, and chlamydia DNA has been detected in the appendix and colon, which supports the idea that the infection may be passed through oral sex.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
