Quote:
Originally Posted by shiroi
anyone know more about Ureaplasma urealyticum?
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I know a bit about Ureaplasma Urealyticum.
It is a bacteria belonging to the Mycoplasma family.
It is found in almost 70% of the world's sexually active population.
It has been linked to many diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, urethritis and pelvic inflammation leading to subfertility and even infertility.
It is of extremely low pathogenic potential. In other words, most of the time, it just sits in the body and does not cause any symptoms. Because of this, the role that it plays in the above mentioned diseases is also contentious. i.e. you see a patient with pneumonia and isolate ureaplasma in the lungs. Are you sure it is the ureaplasma causing the pneumonia? Or did you just incidentally pick it up and are missing the real cause?
We know that Ureaplasma is sexually transmitted. We also know that Ureaplasma has been isolated in mutually monogamous couples who have not had Ureaplasma infections before. So where did that come from? Nobody knows.
My approach to Ureaplasma is as such - I leave it alone unless:
1. The patient has symptoms
2. There is a concern about fertility
3. There is concern for the partner
4. The patient is very keen to have it treated
This way, we do not unnecessarily expose the patient to antibiotics (and of course also not waste the patient's money).