This retrospective study investigated coinfection with Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), and Mycoplasma hominis (MH) among patients with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) in southern China to support clinical diagnosis and treatment. A total of 1,138 specimens from patients with gonorrhea were tested for UU, CT, MH, and other pathogens using culture methods, electrochemiluminescence, and fluorescence quantitative PCR. Among the 1,138 patients with NG, 526 (46.2%) were coinfected with at least one additional pathogen. The most frequent coinfection patterns involving UU, CT, or MH were NG+UU (235, 20.7%), NG+CT (173, 15.2%), and NG+MH (90, 7.9%). Coinfections with two or more additional pathogens occurred in 171 patients (15.0%): NG+UU+MH (82, 7.2%), NG+UU+CT (53, 4.7%), NG+MH+CT (21, 1.8%), and NG+UU+MH+CT (15, 1.3%). The distribution of coinfections differed by age group for NG+UU (χ2 = 12.23, df = 5, p = .032) and NG+CT (χ2 = 29.05, df = 5, p 2 = 24.30, df = 1, p < .001). Overall, mixed infections involving UU, CT, and MH were common among patients with NG, supporting comprehensive sexually transmitted infections screening to reduce missed diagnoses, treatment delays, and transmission.
Zheng et al. (Thu,) studied this question.