What is genital mycoplasma, a very common and unknown sexually transmitted infection

by time news

With the awareness campaigns launched after the expansion of the AIDS pandemic Throughout the world, many of the most serious sexually transmitted diseases are widely known. On the contrary, some of them, sometimes more common, go unnoticed among the general population due to lack of information.

What is genital mycoplasma? What are your causes?

He micoplasma genital Mycoplasma genitalium is an infection by the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium, a tiny microorganism (it is the smallest known independent living bacterium and the second smallest overall, after Carsonella ruddii) that parasitizes the hair and epithelial cells of the genital and respiratory tracts. in primates.

It was discovered recently, in 1981, and since 2015 it is considered a emerging sexually transmitted disease. Approximately, it is estimated that between 1 and 4% of all men and between 1 and 6.4% of women suffer from it.

Normally it is not very serious, although in some rare cases it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (in women) or epididymitis in men. Also, there are instances in which the bacterium has been linked to female infertility and spontaneous abortions.

Genital mycoplasma is, as we have pointed out, a sexually transmitted disease. Can transmitted genitally, anally or orally, and even after touching the genitals of an infected person with their hands if they then touch their own. For this reason, the use of prophylactic barrier methods is vital to prevent contagion, in all types of sexual practices and not only during penetration.

What are your symptoms?

Although it often causes no symptoms, it is not uncommon for it to cause urethritis in men (very similar to those produced by other bacterial infections) and cervicitis in women.


A couple in bed.

In it first case, the common symptoms are discomfort and itching when urinating, itching in the urethra and the appearance of discharge. Sometimes balanitis (inflammation of the glans) or posthitis/inflammation of the foreskin may appear).

In the second, the main manifestations include itching, increased vaginal dischargediscomfort when urinating and pain in the pelvic area.

In women, if the disease progresses to inflammatory disease pelvic pain, very intense pain in the lower abdomen, fever and light bleeding may appear.


Stock image of a medical procedure

How is it treated?

The common strategy against genital mycoplasma is antibiotic treatment, to which the condition usually responds well. However, in recent times an increasing resistance to antibiotics by the bacteria has been noticed, which worries the scientific community.

Specifically, azithromycin is usually tried first, sometimes in conjunction with other antibiotics such as cephalosporin due to the difficult diagnosis of genital mycoplasma (which can be confused with other similar bacterial infections).

If the symptoms continue, it is possible that the particular strain be resistant to azithromycin, so this line is usually changed by the administration of moxifloxacin. If this fails, the last antibiotic is pristinamycin.

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