Study on the infection and pathogenicity of Mycoplasma genitalium in sexually transmitted diseases clinic patients of Guangzhou

Abstract

Objective To investigate the infection status and the pathogenicity of Mycoplasma genitalium (Mg) in Guangzhou. Methods A total of 2 633 swab specimen from focus of male and female genital tract were collected from Guangdong Provincial Center for Skin Diseases and STIs Control and Prevention from 2010 to 2013, and Taqman MGB realtime PCR method was applied to detect nucleate of Mg. Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida and bacterial vaginosis were detected by smear, Chlamydia trachomatis by ELISA and Gonococcus by culture. Results The total infection rate of Mg was 7.94% (209/2 633) , positive ratio in male[8.94% (175/1 958] was significantly higher than positive ratio in female[5.04% (34/675) ] (χ2=10.45, P 0.05) . Among the infected females, age group of 20-29 years took up of 47.06% which was higher than other age groups and 14.29% of infected males in the same age group (25/175) . The differences were statistically significant (χ2=19.39, P<0.01) . There were 33 nongonococcal urethritis cases among 92 male urethral swabs, of which 72.73% (24/33) were Mg-infected. Among 17 cervicitis cases tested from 21 cervical swabs, 82.35% (14/17) were Mg-infected females. Conclusions The Mg infection rate of males is significantly higher than females in Guangzhou. In different age ranges, the Mg infection rates of females and males are also significantly different. In addition, the Mg infection maybe relevant to the non-gonococcal urethritis in men and mucinous cervicitis in women. Key words: Mycoplasma infections; Epidemiology; Sexually transmitted diseases