Affiliation:
1. Department of Medical Microbiology, Infectious Diseases & Infection Prevention, Maastricht University Medical Center, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Maastricht
Abstract
Background
Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) is associated with urethritis in men and weakly associated with pelvic inflammatory disease in women. Mycoplasma genitalium coinfections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) are commonly reported; however, little is known about their interaction. One study suggested that MG/NG coinfections might increase the bacterial load of NG, which has been shown to have a higher transmission potential. As even less is known about the impact of a simultaneous MG/CT infection, we assessed whether patients with urogenital MG/CT coinfections have a higher bacterial load than patients with a single infection.
Methods
There were 1673 urogenital samples from patients from a population-based chlamydia study, and our sexually transmitted infection clinic tested for both CT and MG. When positive, the load was quantified. Nonparametric tests compared the CT and MG load, and linear regression analyses tested the association of the CT and MG load within a patient.
Results
In 60 MG-positive patients, MG load ranged from 1.7 to 6.0 log10 copies/ml, similar to the CT load distribution. Only 6 patients were MG-positive and CT-negative, but the MG load distribution was similar to that of CT-positive patients (n.s.). The MG and CT load was unrelated in coinfected persons (n.s.).
Conclusions
We found no correlation between the CT and MG load in urogenital samples, and the MG load distribution was similar in CT-positive and CT-negative patients. These results could have implications for the transmission risk of these infections.
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Microbiology (medical),Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Dermatology