Chlamydia trachomatis also causes blindness, while its cousin, Chlamydia pneumoniae, is implicated in childhood asthma and adult emphysema.

ECONOMIST: Bugged by disease

It may be provoked by infection with Chlamydia trachomatis, a sexually transmitted denizen of the genital tract, and Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma fermentans, two other inhabitants of the genitals.

ECONOMIST: Bugged by disease | The