Current Pediatric Research

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) are an important health problem. Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma are important agents producing non-gonococcal urethritis and other complications, such as pelvic inflammatory diseases and infertility. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum) and Mycoplasma genitalium (M. genitalium) and assessment of the infection related risk factors in pregnant women. Materials and methods: In an 8 month cross-sectional study in 2017, urine specimens were collected from 194 pregnant women referring to Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran for diagnosis of infection. The frequency of U. urealyticum and M. genitalium organisms in the samples and the relationship between the prevalence and risk factors of pregnant women was investigated. Results: The prevalence of Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma was 5.6% and 11.2%, respectively. More than half of the women (88.8%) did not report any signs of STIs. As the age rises, the frequency of infections decreased. There was a significant correlation between preterm labor and infection and also between the history of genital herpes simplex infection and U. urealyticum infection. A positive history of abortion was found to be statistically significant with both infections. Conclusion: In general, the prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. genitalium is similar to results of some other studies in Iran and elsewhere in the world. Further studies are recommended be conducted in target groups of pregnant women in order to obtain more accurate estimates of the prevalence of these infections as well as the causes of infections.

Author(s): Shima Javadinia, Zahra Movahedi, Mohammad Reza Shokrollahi, Mehri Naghdalipour, Azardokht Tabatabaee, Ramin Asgarian, Maryam Jamei

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