Pre-marital Checkup (Couple)

Details

Why is it necessary to perform a premarital checkup ?

Premarital checkup is essential to check if the couple is in good health and is an important part of family planning. The checkup detects infectious diseases that may affect the next generation, and facilitate early treatment that are beneficial to the couple and their children.

What are the common sexually transmitted infections (STI)?

Human beings cannot develop effective immunity against sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis and HIV. Untreated syphilis can damage the brain, spinal cord, and aorta, leading to blindness, paralysis and even death. HIV weakens the immune system over time and the body will have trouble fighting off disease. STI causes few or no symptoms, so people may not know they have one. Having a STI during pregnancy can cause serious problems to the woman and the baby, e.g.: pelvic inflammatory disease, miscarriage, premature birth. Some problems affect a baby’s entire life, and some can even cause death.

Common infectious disease

Hepatitis B

At present, there are around 500,000 hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection cases in Hong Kong. Mother-to-child transmission can occur in infants born to mothers with chronic hepatitis B during vaginal delivery or Caesarean section. About 70-90% of infants infected by the virus become carriers and the infection can slowly damage the liver cells and impairs liver function. It is important to get tested before pregnancy because early diagnosis with early treatment can effectively protect the mother and child. In addition to giving the baby hepatitis B immune globulin and vaccination immediately after birth, oral antiviral therapies during 28 to 32 weeks of pregnancy in highly viremic mothers can further decrease perinatal transmission.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). An estimated 0.3% of Hong Kong population are infected with HCV. Newly infected HCV has few or no obvious symptoms. Some patients present symptoms that are similar to other types of hepatitis, such as fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, upper abdominal discomfort, tea-coloured urine and jaundice (yellowing of skin and the whites of eyes). Others remain asymptomatic for decades after an infection, while developing secondary signs and symptoms of serious liver damage (e.g.: cirrhosis, liver cancer). HCV is not likely to spread through sexual activity, but if both partners have skin or mucosal lesions and do not use condoms during sex, HCV can be passed on in blood. An estimated risk of mother-to-child HCV transmission is about 4 – 8%. If HCV is detected before pregnancy, it can be cured with direct-acting antivirals (DAA), a first line drug of hepatitis C with a 90% efficacy.

What is the purpose of semen analysis ?

One in every six couples have trouble getting pregnant. About 30% of the causes relate to women, men account for another 30% of infertility cases, and the rest are common causes. Routine semen analysis provides useful information concerning sperm production, i.e.: sperm count, morphology and motility. A decrease in sperm number, motility, and normal morphology are common causes of infertility. How to perform a semen analysis ? First, you will pick-up a semen collection container at the clinic.The clinic staff will provide detailed information on semen sample submission procedures. You can collect your sample at home on another day. Please send the semen sample to the appointed laboratory at the designated time.