Understanding Mycoplasma & Ureaplasma Infections
This post is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for personalized guidance.
What are they?
These are types of bacteria that can live in the genital tract. They are sometimes harmless, but they can also cause infections or be spread through sexual contact.
Mycoplasma genitalium: A tiny bacteria that can infect the urinary and reproductive tracts. It can cause symptoms or be silent (asymptomatic).
Ureaplasma (like U. urealyticum or U. parvum): These bacteria are often found naturally in the genital tract but can sometimes lead to problems.
How are they spread?
These bacteria can be spread through sexual contact—vaginal, anal, and possibly oral sex.
They are not usually spread through casual contact, like kissing, sharing utensils, or toilet seats.
What are symptoms?
In Men: Burning with urination, discharge from the penis, testicular pain (less common).
In Women: Abnormal vaginal discharge, burning or pain with urination, pelvic pain or discomfort, pain during sex, irregular bleeding. The bacteria may also cause infertility (this one is a little unclear), preterm labor, or neonatal infections.
Sometimes people have no symptoms at all.
Testing and treatment:
Lab tests called NAATs to detect these bacteria. This can be vaginal swabs or urine samples.
These are not always included in standard STI panels, so be sure to mention any symptoms or concerns.
Antibiotics can treat the infection, but the problem we run into is that strains are resistant to a lot of the options. You can also spread this to your partner, so if you are getting treated, your partner should be tested and/or treated as well. The most common antibiotics that are used to treat this include doxycycline, azithromycin, and moxifloxacin.
Prevention:
Using condoms, limiting your number of sexual partners, and regular STI checks.
These bacterium are my least favorite when it comes to BV. The research regarding these is minimal, but what I have seen over time is that my patients who get frequent, reoccurring BV infections, tend to have this show up positive on their vaginal swab. My biggest concern with this bacteria is that some people can be colonized with it, meaning that it could be part of their normal flora. With vaginal swabs, you can’t get a number or amount of bacteria present, because it can changed based on the amount of sample. Then we (the patient and I) have to decide if it is something we should treat or not. Do they really want to take a few different rounds of antibiotics? Could they try consistent probiotics and condom use for a couple months to see if it will get fixed on its own? These are things we try out after the patient has good education and understanding on the topic.
If you feel like you may have this, I urge you to talk with your healthcare provider about it for testing and treatment. If they don’t offer it, find someone who will!
If there are any new updates regarding this topic that I find, Ill make a new post about it!
-Nina