Medical Care

Successful treatment hinges on promptly considering Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma species as potential etiologic agents, performing proper diagnostic tests for their detection, and providing appropriate antimicrobial coverage.

Although persons who are immunosuppressed (eg, those with antibody deficiencies) are rarely encountered in some practices, such individuals may have a disproportionately high frequency of serious infections caused by Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma species; therefore, always consider these organisms in the patient's differential diagnosis.

Handle medical treatment according to the patient involved, the presence of underlying disease or immunodeficiency, and whether the infection is localized or disseminated. Key to providing pathogen-specific management is obtaining adequate material for microbiologic diagnosis and properly handling this material once it is collected.

Choose general treatment guidelines for conditions such as acute salpingitis, endometritis, pyelonephritis, urethritis, septic arthritis, neonatal pneumonia, and other conditions associated with or attributed to genital Mycoplasma species according to standard care practices for the various clinical syndromes.

Other than providing specific antimicrobial agents to cover Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma species, no other unique aspects to the management of these conditions are beneficial.

Note that Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma organisms are often opportunists and may be present simultaneously with other pathogens in many of the above-described conditions. Treatment decisions should reflect this possibility.

Medication

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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.

Sections Ureaplasma Infection
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