Mycoplasma genitalium positive

Many people have a vague understanding of mycoplasma and think that mycoplasma is a kind of bacteria. In fact, mycoplasma is different from viruses or bacteria. It is smaller than bacteria and viruses. Mycoplasma infection is common in life, and genital mycoplasma positivity is one of the types, which is mostly caused by sexual transmission. So how should genital mycoplasma positivity be treated?

What is Ureaplasma urealyticum?

Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) is the smallest prokaryotic organism between bacteria and viruses. It mainly lives in the human urogenital tract and is one of the important pathogens of sexually transmitted diseases. It can not only cause genital infections such as the vagina and cervix, but is also closely related to miscarriage, infertility and intrauterine growth retardation of the fetus.

How to get infected with Ureaplasma urealyticum?

Ureaplasma urealyticum can colonize on the surface of epithelial cells of the urethra and genital tract mucosa, and direct sexual contact is the main transmission route of UU infection. In addition to direct sexual contact, infection can also occur through indirect contact through contaminated clothing.

Ureaplasma urealyticum can be transmitted vertically through the placenta or spread upward from the lower reproductive tract of pregnant women, causing intrauterine infection. Both can lead to a series of adverse consequences such as miscarriage, premature birth, intrauterine growth retardation, low birth weight, premature rupture of membranes, and even intrauterine fetal death. During the delivery process, the fetus is also susceptible to infection when it is delivered through the birth canal. The most common ones are neonatal ophthalmia, followed by neonatal respiratory tract infection, and others include otitis media, pharyngitis, etc.

Relationship between Ureaplasma urealyticum and diseases

Ureaplasma urealyticum is a vaginal symbiotic bacterium that can be carried by normal people without causing disease. It can cause disease when the body's internal environment changes and resistance decreases. Currently, the pathogenic mechanism of Ureaplasma urealyticum is still unclear.

1. Ureaplasma urealyticum and non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU)

Nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) is a type of sexually transmitted disease mainly caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and Ureaplasma urealyticum, also known as nonspecific urethritis. The UU infection rate in NGU patients was higher than that in non-NGU patients, and NGU patients infected with UU had higher UU concentrations than non-NGU patients.

2. Ureaplasma urealyticum and gynecological diseases

Cervicitis is a common gynecological disease in clinical practice, and UU infection accounts for a large proportion. UU is often detected in patients with cervicitis. Treatment with tetracyclines can eliminate UU and improve symptoms, indicating that UU infection is closely related to cervicitis. Urinary and reproductive system UU infects the surface of the cervical mucosa, causing local inflammation and causing cervicitis. When the resistance of the female reproductive tract is low, UU lurking in the wrinkles of the cervical mucosa will multiply in large numbers and infect the mucosa of the cervical canal, which can lead to myometritis, endometritis, salpingo-oophoritis, pelvic abscess and inflammatory diseases of the pelvic connective tissue.

3. Ureaplasma urealyticum and infertility

Male infertility: Many foreign scholars have conducted research on unexplained male infertility and found that the sperm in UU-positive semen has poor motility, low content, and abnormal sperm. After treatment, the motility is greatly improved and the abnormal sperm is reduced. Female infertility: The detection rate of UU in women with unexplained infertility is significantly higher than that in the normal population, suggesting that UU may be a pathogen causing infertility.

4. Effects of Ureaplasma urealyticum infection on pregnancy

Ureaplasma urealyticum is the most frequently detected microorganism in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women in preterm labor. UU infection in pregnant women will have a certain impact on pregnancy. The appearance of UU in the placenta is related to the occurrence of spontaneous abortion, premature birth, premature rupture of membranes, chorioamnionitis, postpartum fever, etc.

What should I do if I am infected with Ureaplasma?

Patients who simply test positive for UU without any symptoms are not in an infected state but in an asymptomatic carrier state and do not need to be treated. If the ureaplasma urealyticum culture is positive and there are symptoms of reproductive tract infection, antibiotics are still the main treatment option. Currently, the more commonly used drugs in clinical practice are tetracyclines, macrolides and quinolones, among which tetracyclines are the first choice. Studies have found that the number of UU strains resistant to tetracycline and other drugs is increasing, but no strains resistant to three types of drugs have been found, suggesting that combination therapy with two or three drugs may be the most effective.