The Effect of Antibiotic Therapy on Mycoplasma in the Female Genital Tract: In vitro and in vivo Studies on the Sensitivity of Mycoplasma hominis and T‐Mycoplasmas to Tetracyclines and other Antibiotics

The susceptibility of M. hominis and T‐mycoplasmas to different antibiotics in vitro has been studied. A clinical assessment of metacycline, lincomycin and chloramphenicol in genital infections in the female, with special reference to M. hominis and T‐mycoplasmas is also presented. After treatment with metacycline or lincomycin, M. hominis was rarely isolated and in the majority of cases such therapy was followed by a disappearance of symptoms and signs of infection and a rapid re‐establishment of a vaginal flora dominated by Döderlein's bacillus. In patients who had received chloramphenicol, cultures yielded in most cases growth of M. hominis, and signs of infection persisted after treatment. The effect of treatment with metacycline, lincomycin or chloramphenicol on M. hominis correlated well with the susceptibility of this organism found in vitro. Cultures for T‐mycoplasmas showed that these organisms could be recovered in about the same frequency before and after therapy.