Emerging STI Superbug: Mycoplasma genitalium Fact Sheet

Treatment options are limited. Inclusion of an antibiotic resistance test in your therapy algorithm will likely improve patient outcome.

 What to Know About Mycoplasma Genitalium, the STI That Could Soon Become Untreatable

MG is frequently thought of as a "new" STI, but it was actually detected in the 1980s. The bacterial infection is generally spread through penetrative sex, and less commonly through oral sex. According to the new guidelines published by the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV, azithromycin is the most effective antibiotic to treat the STI. Typical treatment has been one single 500 mg dose followed by 250 mg a day for four days. However, emerging evidence shows that a single 1 gram dose of azithromycin followed by 500 mg a day for two days may reduce the chances of MG becoming antibiotic resistant.

Mycoplasma genitalium infections: current treatment options and resistance issues

Though more than 3 decades have passed since the isolation of Mycoplasma genitalium, its management still remains an enigma for clinicians worldwide. The organism’s fastidious nature and slow growth have been a major hurdle in the diagnosis and in vitro antibiotic susceptibility studies...

Mycoplasma genitalium: An Overlooked Sexually Transmitted Pathogen in Women?

M. genitalium is now increasingly recognized as a STI and has been associated with PID, endometritis, cervicitis, and HIV in women though clinical manifestations and risk factors overlap with other STIs. The availability of NAAT for PCR detection of this organism will allow further investigation into the effects of M. genitalium infection on long-term reproductive health outcomes such as infertility, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and obstetric outcomes such as preterm deliveries.

What Is Mycoplasma Genitalium? The New STI You Need To Know About

Here’s a new scientific discovery that's not so exciting. A new STI, Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), has been identified. Even worse, many people are living with it and don’t even know it. MG was first identified as a bacteria in the 1980s. But according to a new report published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, British scientists have discovered that MG is passed through unprotected sex.

Health Officials Want You To Know About This STD You’ve Never Heard Of

Unlike more notorious infections, the STD mycoplasma genitalium may make you draw a blank, and that’s exactly why the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is bringing attention to it, calling it an “emerging issue.” Here’s what you need to know.

How Do I Get Tested for Mycoplasma Genitalium?

It requires very specific tests to find Mycoplasma. For example, if your doctor doesn't test your urine for bacterial DNA, it is unlikely that she will detect a Mycoplasma infection. Why are NAAT tests for mycoplasma needed? Because it is almost impossible to grow the bacterium from swabs outside of a research laboratory.

Mycoplasma genitalium – the common STI you’ve never heard of

Mycoplasma genitalium has flown under the radar in part because it’s relatively hard to detect. Just like other STIs, people who are infected may not have any symptoms, and if they do, their physicians may not always test for Mycoplasma genitalium–partly because it’s difficult to test for using traditional methods. However, thanks to increasingly accessible DNA-based STI screening—and increasing awareness—doctors are now more able than ever to diagnose and treat a Mycoplasma genitalium infection.

Mycoplasma genitalium: Challenges in Diagnosis and Treatment

To prevent further development of antimicrobial resistance in M genitalium, clinicians need to avoid using inappropriate antibiotics—such as doxycycline — as initial treatment...

The New STI You Haven’t Heard About Yet

While calling it the ‘new’ STI may be slightly incorrect (it was first discovered in 1980) Mycoplasma genitalium was only properly studied and tied to sexual activity in the mid-90s, when it was realized that the infection was more common among those who had had 4 or more new sexual partners in the last year, and no infections were found among those who had never had sex. But, in our modern era of a really very serious STI crisis, it has been found that it infects more than 1 percent of people ages 16 to 44 in the UK alone, making it more common than gonorrhea. And yet, many doctors and even more of the public aren’t familiar with Mycoplasma genitalium.

The Sexually Transmitted 'Superbug' You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes – we thought our high school sex ed had pretty much covered the scariest sexually transmitted infections (STIs) going around.