Prevalence and Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in Females with Genital Infections from Central Kerala, India

Abstract

Introduction: Genital mycoplasmas namely Mycoplasma Hominis and Ureaplasma Urealyticum are sexually transmitted disease pathogens which are associated with genital infections, infertility, obstetric and neonatal complications. The pathogenesis, prevalence, epidemiology and antibiotic resistance of genital mycoplasmas in Indian women have been studied very minimally. Aim: To determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of M.hominis and U.urealyticum among females presenting with genital tract infections Materials and Methods: The hospital-based descriptive cross- sectional study was carried out among 120 females of reproductive age group (15-49 years) attending Outpatient Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of a tertiary care centre in central Kerala, India, from January 2018 to December 2018. Endocervical/ vaginal/urethral samples were collected depending on the clinical presentation. Detection, quantitation and antibiotic sensitivity pattern of M.hominis and U.urealyticum were performed using Mycoplasma IST 2 Kit. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5 and statistical association was analysed using Chi-square test. Results: The prevalence of genital mycoplasmas was 25.83%. U.urealyticum infection was present in 20 (20.8%) and M.hominis infection was present in 12 (10%) of the patients. Age group of 26-35 years was commonly affected. All isolates showed high susceptibility rates to doxycycline, josamycin and pristinamycin. Intermediate to high resistance was noted to commonly prescribed macrolides and quinolones. Conclusion: Genital mycoplasmas are prevalent in one-fourth of the study population with U.urealyticum infections being more common than M.hominis infections. The increased resistance rates to quinolones and macrolides warrants the need for routine screening and antibiotic susceptibility testing of these pathogens.