Further Outpatient Care

For serious systemic infections, especially in immunosuppressed hosts, it may be advisable to perform follow-up cultures to determine if infection has been eradicated. If using a molecular-based test, at least 3 weeks should elapse before retesting because dead organisms may still amplify and yield a false positive result.

Deterrence/Prevention

Because of the frequency with which genital Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma organisms are carried in the lower urogenital tract in persons who are asymptomatic and sexually active, use of barrier protection methods (eg, condoms) is of little benefit because the organisms most often act as opportunistic normal florae. In cases of U urealyticum or M genitalium urogenital infections, sexual partners should also undergo treatment.

Delivery of infants by cesarean delivery has not prevented colonization in the lower respiratory tract because acquisition of the organisms can occur in utero by ascending infection, even through intact fetal membranes.

Although no systematic studies have been performed, the epidemiology of these organisms suggests that persons who are sexually inactive do not usually harbor them and, therefore, cannot be expected to develop clinically significant infections. Abstinence may prevent spread of the organisms among adolescents and adults.

Questions

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Author

Ken B Waites, MD Director, UAB Diagnostic Mycoplasma Laboratory, Professor, Department of Pathology, Division of Laboratory Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

Ken B Waites, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Society for Microbiology

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Received salary from Medscape for employment. for: Medscape.

Richard B Brown, MD, FACP Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Baystate Medical Center; Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine

Richard B Brown, MD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Massachusetts Medical Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Michael Stuart Bronze, MD David Ross Boyd Professor and Chairman, Department of Medicine, Stewart G Wolf Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center; Master of the American College of Physicians; Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London

Michael Stuart Bronze, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, Association of Professors of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Oklahoma State Medical Association, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Additional Contributors

Gary L Gorby, MD Associate Professor, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Division of Infectious Diseases, Creighton University School of Medicine; Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Associate Chair, Omaha Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Gary L Gorby, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Medical Association, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, New York Academy of Sciences

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Ureaplasma Infection Follow-up

Further Outpatient Care

Deterrence/Prevention

References

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