What is the difference between Chlamydia and Mycoplasma

Chlamydia and Mycoplasma are terms that you will hear about many diseases, but many people do not know what Chlamydia and Mycoplasma are. What is the difference between Chlamydia and Mycoplasma? It seems that there is only one word difference, but in fact there is a big difference. They are two completely different diseases, and they often exist in the body at the same time. Treatment also needs to be carried out at the same time, otherwise it is very easy to cause cross-infection. The main transmission route is sexual transmission. Unclean sexual life is one of the main transmission factors, so it is forbidden to have multiple sexual partners. Pay attention to personal hygiene during sexual life. It is also transmitted through some public channels, such as public toilets, public baths, etc. Try not to take a bath in a public bath. It is better to take a bath or shower alone. It is safer. Pay attention to your personal belongings, especially the cleanliness of underwear and other close-fitting clothes to reduce the chance of infection.

Mycoplasma, also known as Mycoplasma, is the smallest and simplest cell discovered so far, and it is also the only prokaryotic cell without a cell wall. Chlamydia is a microorganism that is different from both bacteria and viruses. It is a prokaryotic organism, that is, the cell nucleus does not form a nuclear membrane. Mechanism of mycoplasma infection: Among pathogenic mycoplasmas, Mycoplasma pneumoniae causes pneumonia, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma genitalium mainly cause urogenital tract infections. Mycoplasma pneumonia is also known as primary atypical pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia can occur throughout the year, but is more common in winter and may cause small epidemics. Mycoplasma pneumonia is a common type of pneumonia among preschool children and young people. Mycoplasma pneumonia is mainly transmitted through droplets and has a long incubation period of up to 2 to 3 weeks. Although mycoplasma pneumonia has a long course, severe lung lesions, and slow inflammation absorption, the prognosis is good in most cases and there are few complications. Mycoplasma genitalium infection is a newly identified sexually transmitted disease in recent years. Adults are mainly infected through sexual contact, while newborns are infected through their mother's reproductive tract during delivery. The site of infection in adult males is the urethral mucosa, and in females it is the cervix. In neonates, it mainly causes conjunctivitis and pneumonia.

Diseases caused by Chlamydia

(a) Trachoma: caused by Chlamydia trachomatis biovar A, B, Ba, and C serotypes. It is mainly transmitted through direct or indirect contact, i.e. eye-to-eye or eye-to-hand-to-eye. When Chlamydia trachomatis infects conjunctival epithelial cells, it proliferates in them and forms scattered, cap-shaped, mulberry-shaped or filling-shaped inclusion bodies in the cytoplasm. The disease develops slowly, with acute or subacute inflammation of the eyelid conjunctiva appearing in the early stages, manifested by symptoms and signs such as tearing, mucopurulent secretions, and conjunctival congestion. In the later stage, the disease becomes chronic, with conjunctival scarring, entropion, trichiasis, and corneal damage caused by corneal pannus, which affects vision and eventually leads to blindness. According to statistics, trachoma is the leading cause of blindness. In 1956, Chinese scholars Tang Feifan and others successfully isolated Chlamydia trachomatis for the first time in the world using the chicken embryo yolk sac inoculation method, thus promoting research on the related pathogens.

(ii) Inclusion body pericystitis: caused by serotypes D to K of trachoma organism variants. Including both infants and adults. The former is caused by infection of the infant's birth canal, which causes acute purulent conjunctivitis (inclusion body pus leakage into the eye), does not invade the cornea, and can heal itself. Adult infection can occur through sexual contact, hand-to-eye contact, or from contaminated swimming pool water, causing follicular conjunctivitis, also known as swimming pool conjunctivitis. The lesions are similar to trachoma, but there is no corneal pannus and no conjunctival scarring. They usually heal within weeks or months without sequelae.

(III) Urogenital tract infection: transmitted through sexual contact, caused by serotypes D to K of trachoma organism variants. In men, symptoms often present as urethritis, which can be relieved without treatment, but most cases turn into chronic diseases with periodic exacerbations, and may be complicated by epididymitis, proctitis, etc. In women, it can cause urethritis, cervicitis, etc., and salpingitis is a more serious complication. This serotype can sometimes cause Chlamydia trachomatis pneumonia.

(IV) Lymphogranuloma venereum: caused by the LGV biovar of Chlamydia trachomatis. LGV is transmitted through sexual contact and is a sexually transmitted disease. In men, the disease invades the inguinal lymph nodes, causing suppurative lymphadenitis and chronic lymphogranuloma. In women, the perineum, anus, and rectum may be invaded, resulting in stenosis of the perineum-anus-rectum tissues.

(V) Respiratory tract infection: caused by Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia psittaci. Chlamydia pneumoniae causes acute respiratory tract infection, the most common of which is pneumonia, but it can also cause tracheitis and pharyngitis. Psittacosis is a natural infection of wild birds and livestock. It can also be transmitted to humans through the respiratory tract, causing respiratory infections and pneumonia. 3. Immunity Chlamydia infection can induce type-specific cellular and humoral immunity. However, the protection is not strong and is short-lived, so chlamydia infection often manifests as persistent infection, recurrent infection or invisible infection. Some chlamydia antigens can cause immune pathological damage after being injected into human skin.