Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) is one of the less talked about sexually transmitted infections (STIs). While the bacteria that causes it, Mycoplasma genitalium was recognized as early as 1981, how it was transmitted was not determined when it was identified. A test to detect Mgen was only made widely available in 2017.
It can cause symptoms, but it doesn’t always, and is often mistaken for chlamydia. It infects the reproductive tract in women, spreading to the cervix, and the urogenital tract in men, spreading to the urethra. The urethra is the small duct that runs through the penis in men and carries urine out of the body. Mgen is spread through unprotected vaginal and/or anal sex with someone who has the infection. It is not yet known if oral sex also has the potential to spread Mgen.
Mgen causes a wide variety of symptoms among men and women that range in severity.
Men with Mgen may experience no symptoms at all. They may also experience difficulty urinating, itching in the urethral tract, and abnormal discharge when urinating.
Women commonly experience cervical inflammation (cervicitis) and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a condition that can have serious consequences such as infertility, as a result of Mgen.
Symptoms of cervicitis include:
Symptoms of PID include:
An Mgen infection is caused by unprotected sexual intercourse, vaginal or anal, with a person who is infected with Mgen. The Mgen infection is caused by a bacteria called Mycoplasma genitalium.
Risk factors for an Mgen infection include:
Your doctor will take a medical history and do a physical exam to determine whether to test you for Mgen. Men will be asked to give a urine sample while women may be asked to give a urine sample or a swab of their vaginal cells. Receiving a definitive diagnosis of Mgen can take up to 6 months since the bacteria that causes Mgen takes a long time to grow in a laboratory setting. Not everyone that has Mgen will be tested for it. Those with no symptoms will not be tested, since there’s no indication that they have Mgen.
However, patients who have symptoms of Mgen that have not responded to other treatment methods will be tested. This includes men with itching in the urethra and women with symptoms of cervicitis and PID. Additionally, if you are the sex partner of someone with a diagnosis of Mgen, it’s important to get tested.
While Mgen has been associated with miscarriage and infertility in women, there is not enough data at this point in time to say that these are complications from Mgen alone.
Mgen can be treated with antibiotic medications. Your doctor will prescribe two-step antibiotic therapy. Mgen is known to be more resistant to antibiotic medications than some other bacteria. For that reason, people with Mgen take two antibiotics instead of just one. It’s important to take the medicine your doctor prescribes you, exactly as it is prescribed, until you finish the entire course of both antibiotics.
Preventative measures can be taken to avoid Mgen and similar STIs. The only way to completely avoid getting an STI is to never have sexual relations. For most adults, this is not a realistic course of prevention. Other important prevention measures include using condoms properly every time you have sex and getting tested regularly for STIs if you do have multiple sexual partners. Being in a long-term relationship with one person also significantly lowers the risk of contracting Mgen.