Sena AC, et al. - In order to determine the natural history of Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), the physicians examined patients with asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV). Among young, high-risk women with asymptomatic BV, high rates of prevalent, incident, and persistent MG infections were identified.

Methods

• The physicians recruited women aged 15-25 years, with ≥2 STI risk factors and asymptomatic BV, from 10 sites throughout the United States.
• They collected vaginal swabs at enrollment and by home-based testing every 2 months over 12 months.
• Using transcription-mediated assays (Hologic Inc, California), MG nucleic acid amplification testing was performed.
• They estimated MG prevalence, incidence and persistence [defined as MG(+) from all follow-up specimens] with 95% confidence intervals (CI).
• They calculated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) using logistic and Poisson regression to assess participant characteristics associated with MG infection.

Results

• Two hundred and thirty-three women were MG(+) for a prevalence of 20.5% (95% CI: 18.2- 22.9) among 1,139 women; 42/204 were identified with persistent MG (20.6%).
• MG incidence was 36.6 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 32.4-41.3) among 801 MG(-) women at baseline with 711.2 person-years of follow-up.
• Factors associated with prevalent MG were black race (AOR 1.92, CI: 1.09- 3.38), age ≤ 21 years (AOR 1.40, CI: 1.03-1.91), and history of prior pregnancy (AOR 1.36, CI: 1.00-1.85); only Black race was correlated with incident MG (p=0.03).