Report Cites Pelvic Disease Perils
About 1 million American women within a year contract pelvic inflammatory disease, and this vastly aggravates the risk of becoming infertile or having a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, U.S. health officials reported.
“Approximately 12% of women are infertile after a single episode of PID (pelvic inflammatory disease), almost 25% after two episodes and over 50% after three or more episodes,” the federal Centers for Disease Control said in issuing prevention guidelines.
Pelvic inflammatory diseases are infections such as gonorrhea, chlamydia and salpingitis involving the uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries.
In an ectopic, or tubal, pregnancy, a fertilized ovum develops outside the uterus, usually in a Fallopian tube that has been scarred by disease.
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