Mycoplasma genitalium (MG): what it is and why doctors are worried

Doctors are warning that a little-known but increasingly
common sexually transmitted infection is in danger of becoming a
superbug that could leave thousands of women infertile.

First identified in the 1980s, mycoplasma genitalium (MG) is
difficult to diagnose because it causes few or no symptoms, but the
complications can be dangerous. It is currently estimated to
affect one in a 100 people, reports the Daily Mirror.

What is MG?

Mycoplasma genitalium is a bacterium that can cause
inflammation of the urethra in men, and inflammation of the
reproductive organs (womb and fallopian tubes) in women.

The few symptoms are similar to chlamydia, but MG is more
resistant to treatment. It has been found in women with pelvic
inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility.

Though symptoms are rare, they can include a burning
sensation when urinating and pain or bleeding during and after sex.
In men, the symptoms include include watery discharge from the
penis.

MG is spread by having sex without a condom with an
infected person.

Why is it so dangerous?

“Potentially up to 3,000 women a year over the next ten years
could become infertile because of MG leading to pelvic inflammatory
disease,” said Dr Olwen Williams, president of the British
Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH).

The association has “launched new guidelines for the
treatment and diagnosis of the disease, which recommend a specific
diagnostic test: a nucleic acid amplification test”, reports
the The Daily Telegraph. However, the results of a
recent survey suggests that just one in ten sexual health services
plan to fund the testing within the next financial year.

Another problem is that the disease is being misdiagnosed, with
patients mistakenly given antibiotics for chlamydia.

Dr Paddy Horner, consultant senior lecturer in sexual health at
Bristol University and one of the authors of the new guidelines,
said: “This is not curing the infection and is causing
antimicrobial resistance in MG patients. If practices do not change
and the tests are not used, MG has the potential to become a
superbug within a decade, resistant to standard antibiotics.”