MGen STD: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment And Pictures

Table of Contents

Chances are you’ve never been tested or treated for Mgen. It is a sexually transmitted disease that is thought to be more common than gonorrhoea. It usually affects both the male and female gender and can lead to inflammation of the urethra in men and women, and inflammation of the cervix in women. It could also lead to infertility if not treated on time.

What is Mgen STD

Mycoplasma genitalium, commonly called MGen, is a bacterial infection that affects the genitalia of either a man or a woman. It is transmitted from one person to another through sexual relations; not necessarily penetrative sex but touching and rubbing of the sexual parts can lead to transmission of the Mgen bacteria.

Information about this sexually transmitted disease is not much despite scientists’ knowledge of it since 1980. It can be asymptomatic, that it produces no symptoms, and that makes it deadly. However, when it shows symptom and is diagnosed, it can be easily treated.

Causes of Mgen STD

Mgen is caused by a small bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium. This bacterium is the smallest self-replicating organism that has ever existed and usually produces symptoms that are similar to Chlamydia trachomatis, which makes it hard to diagnose.

It has a long growth duration and has no cell wall, which makes it unaffected by most antibiotics. Mycoplasma genitalium lives in the human body, especially on the skin cells of the genital and urinary tracts.

Symptoms of Mgen STD

Mgen STD has many symptoms and it might have some similarities and difference in the male and female genders. Despite its abundance of clinical symptoms, it is possible to have this disease and not know because it can also be asymptomatic, that is, it does not present symptoms.

However, when it does, the symptoms that will be noticed in both males and females include:

Inflammation of the Urethra, that is Urethritis
Discharge of pus from the urinary tract
Pain during urination
Pain during sexual intercourse
Watery discharge from the penis (in men)
Bleeding after sex (in women)
Infertility, especially stemming from the fallopian tube (in women)
Endometritis and other Pelvic inflammatory diseases.

These symptoms bear resemblance to the symptoms presented during non-gonococcal urethritis in men. This is because Mgen STD is the cause of NGU as a result of its action through a polymerase chain reaction.

Diagnosis of MGen STD

It is important to be diagnosed with Mgen STD before treatment commences as this STI is now the leading sexually transmitted infection. Also, due to its high mutation rate, rendering some antibiotics ineffective in its treatment, getting diagnosed will help expose if the bacteria a patient has is resistant to certain types of treatment, and the right course of treatment will be followed.

In Europe, there is a diagnosis guideline that must be followed. This guideline specifies that until the diagnosis is complete and the result is studied, no treatment should commence. The procedure is:

Nucleic acid, DNA or RNA, specific to Mgen must be detected in a clinical specimen, gotten from the patient
The current partners of the patients should be treated with the same antimicrobial medication as their partners, the index patient.
In the event the current partners are not tested or checked for the Mgen infection, they should be given the same medical treatment as their partner, regardless.
To avoid the spread of the disease, individuals who have had sexual partners they are not sure of their sexual health in the past 3 months should get tested before getting treatment.

The importance of diagnosis remains to identify the presence or absence of resistance to some antibacterial medications. Mycoplasma genitalium grows for an extended period and can therefore be easily missed during testing. Also, it lacks a cell wall and consequently makes many antibacterial ineffective against it.

The commonly used method of diagnosis is the Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) – to detect the Mgen-specific DNA or RNA.

On detection of this, the clinical sample is further tested for macrolide resistance – the major cause for the ineffectiveness of some antibacterial medications such as azithromycin against Mgen.

Treatment of Mgen STD

Successful treatment of Mgen STD is not as easy as it used to be. This situation arose as a result of the resistance developed by Mycoplasma genitalium to the single-dose Azithromycin that was commonly prescribed for treatment.

Now, even though azithromycin is still commonly used, it is not used as a single dose. Sometimes, a patient may require different lines of treatment – as much as four lines of treatment – if the first and subsequent ones fail.

Currently, the first treatment, after diagnosis and indication of macrolide resistance, is five-dose azithromycin which has been found to be more effective than a single dose and does not help the pathogen build resistance to the medication. Doxycycline is also used as a first treatment.

In an event that the first treatment fails, a follow-up medication of moxifloxacin is used. If that fails too, pristinamycin is employed.

Conclusion

Mgen STD is now, more common than dreaded gonorrhoea. It is a sexually transmitted infection that is caused by a bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium. This pathogen grows slowly and is difficult to notice during testing, therefore it can only be found out by a procedure called Nucleic Acid Amplification Test that specifically highlights the DNA or RNA that is specific to the pathogen.

Mgen STD is a serious sexual health condition as it does not only affect the urinary tract, it causes infertility as well and as a result of its ability to resist medication due to the absence of a cell wall, it is difficult to treat.

RELATED READING