I agree with Nathan's statement. Where ever the Bible is taught and honored as truth people become progressively civil. Where ever the Bible is absent man progresses from self-indulgence (free sex, drug, violence, manipulation) to animalistic behavior and finally to self-destruction. America is the greatest example in history of a nation founded by God-fearing men on Biblical principles. The result is the wealthiest nation on earth with the most stable government (same constitution since 1776) in the history of the world.

John, Elon, NC USA

go ahead and lash out against the Religious. Looks like that's gotten the immoral folks pretty far hasn't it?

I'll stay religious!

I have coined this phrase and it is trademarked: "Religion without science is blind, but science without religion is deaf." Trademarked

It is very evident that those who don't want to hear anything about religion are deaf. They are like the child who won't listen and gets burned.

Sam, lebanon, IN

Whatever your morals are or whoever your maker was ( or wasn't) if ten percent of people have it and it can be easily cured, then finding out is so important and can prevent a lot of suffering. I commend the researchers for their efforts and recommend if you've got a spare 25 quid lying around you get the test.

Oh and as a "Brit" reading a British newspaper may I point out how displeasing it is to read comments wishing upon us mass infertility! Far too biblical for my tastes! I respectfully suggest such strange rude and ungodly wishes are best left unspoken in the minds of god-botherers, preferably in another publication so I shouldnt have to stumble across such pious nonsense.

Adam, London, England

"Doctors have already warned that the rise in the number of chlamydia cases in Britain may rob thousands of young women of the chance to have children."

Gosh - I didn't know it only robbed WOMEN of this chance!

How predictable that an article on male infertility won't even acknowledge that men, too, may be "robbed of the chance" to have children. A man's reaction to the possibility of never having children is not even touched on in this entire article. As a man I can tell you facing that prospect of being forever childless is horrible. But you just have to get used to the fact that all sympathy and concern will always be directed exclusively towards your partner. Your own feelings are irrelevant.

Is it because our society believes men don't mind if they never get to have kids? Or does our society simply not care? Clearly this writer doesn't feel it even merits a mention. So I'm guessing it's the latter.

David Space, London, UK

We need an AA day.

Antibiotics for all sexually active people and 5 days abstinence.

Chlamydia will be history (until someone goes abroad on holiday)

p s simon, London,

It seems silly to me that they are just now "discovering" that this STD also affects men. So NOW they are going to start screening for it. I mean, honestly, how did they think women were getting it? So, what, now they're going to start screening men because it affects their fertility ALSO? Come on, they should have been getting screened in the first place.
And I don't know what is up with religious people always saying that society is getting worse and blah, blah, blah. I am glad that I am living today as opposed to the crap people had to live through in the past. We are so much better now. Religious people like to try and paint this rosey picture about how "clean" and "right" people back in the day were, but they are obviously incorrect. Just read some history books to know that fact. People back in history were having all sorts of nasty sex with whoever. People were ignorant for a LONG time, too, about how reproduction worked.
We are so much BETTER OFF now!! And getting better.

Taylor, Colorado springs, CO

"being a religious nut-job I must say that if you practice abstinance [sic], you won't have to worry about std's."

Not true! Abstinence ONLY renders you immune to STDs if a) you are celibate your entire life (thus having removed oneself from the gene pool; OR b) BOTH you & your partner are celibate before marriage, AND remain 100% faithful.

(Omitting for the moment the unpleasant possibility of sexual assault, or "getting it from a toilet seat", etc.)

What proportion of Homo Sapiens, religious or not, meet these criteria? I'd guess 10% at the most -- and that's a very generous estimate!

Clearly, we should discourage promiscuity, encourage safer sex practices, and actively people screen for STDs, just as we screen for other diseases. This is a PUBLIC HEALTH issue, and we all have a stake in it!

"It's all in the value systems." I couldn't agree more. My values tell me that "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind." (Einstein)

Peace.

Brian, Everett,, WA (USA)

"Also it's quite entertaining to see the religious nut-jobs out in force in the comments - why are they always from the states?"

The reason they are from the states here is because the conservative Drudge Report linked to this article.

Carol, Florida, US

What's with this anti british, anti American stuff?

Sam Wagner, Quakertown, PA

being a religious nut-job I must say that if you practice abstinance, you won't have to worry about std's. It's all in the value systems. I must also pass on a note of regret that england doesn't have more religious nut-jobs. I also find it amusing that people who are so liberated in their thinking can only find negative things to say about those who profess a belief in God and Jesus Christ. I guess we are just too overbearing because we want people to lead whole productive lives that are free from many of the health and heart achs that debauchary leads to.

jason , owensboro, KY, USA

@Charles Miller:

It could also be that we are simply witnessing evolution in action. Those individuals are selected for, who can overcome adverse conditions in their environment, and still thrive and reproduce. Those who cannot be removed from the gene pool. In this case, those who have immune systems that are able to withstand infection with chlamydia and still produce healthy children will be selected for, and those who are rendered infertile by chlamydia will produce fewer offspring. Eventually the population will predominantly be filled with those who carry genes that give them resistance to chlamydia. Evolution in action!

[By the way, as an American, I would like to apologize for all of the religous nut-jobs who appear in response to stories like these. We are not all like this.]

Dale, San Francisco, CA, USA

It's about time a bit of infertility went round.

Also it's quite entertaining to see the religious nut-jobs out in force in the comments - why are they always from the states?

JonB, Glasgow, UK

The fact that chlamydia is largely asymptomatic but easily treatable indicates that a much more comprehensive screening programme is called for, beginning in schools.
It should be possible to wipe out this STD almost completely in the UK, along with a number of others.
Look what we did to syphilis and gonorrhoea.

Dave, Southampton, UK

Charles Miller, you're wrong. Dead wrong. And I must say that you are the ignorant one, like many others... willfully.
You can come up with whatever nonsense you like about why marriage is a part of life, but that won't change the facts. No, we did NOT evolve. Rather, we are becoming more and more degraded since the fall of man. Diseases like this happen for an obvious reason, and it isn't just physical degeneracy either...
Mankind, it seems, are becoming more like animals. Not using their higher centres of the brain properly. I am at times ashamed to be associated with this pathetic little world. Absolutely sickening.

Nathan, Bridgewater, Tasmania, Australia.

Well, the sooner the Brits go sterile the sooner the rest of us will have peace...

Playin Possum, Olympia , WA USA

This is another instance of Science playing catch-up to "ignorant" tradition. We humans evolved like most other species, with the strongest and SMARTEST humans living longer and more productively. It must have become obvious to our prehistoric ancestors that humans who exercised little self-discipline in sexual activity ended up diseased, weakened, and unable to reproduce in great numbers. Hence, our human societies concocted the numerous traditions of chastity, abstinence, fidelity, marriage and so forth...to PREVENT the spread of STDs and to strengthen the human herd. No doubt many of our religious customs were also born of the same prehistoric observance of sexual hygiene. So, here we are thousands of years later, casting off the rusted shackles of tradition, "exploring our sexuality" and condoning all manner of sexual perversity, and now we are seeing an unprecedented increase in STDs worldwide, and science is "discovering" that promiscuity reduces human fertility. DUH!

Charles Miller, Kings Mountain, NC

Who cares? God told people to behave themselves and they won't listen. So why should anyone who is monogamous and faithful to God's law care about what hedonistic people have to suffer after they were warned, especially when the first thing they do when they get sick is to demand coverage using tax dollars that the rest of us pay? Besides, the fact that a generation of complete losers can't breed successfully is an excellent thing for the planet and the rest of us anyway!

Bill Maher, Playboy Mansion, Holmby Hills, California USA