Prevalence of Human Genital Ureaplasma sp. in a Cohort of Subjects in Southern and Northern, Nigeria
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Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nig. J. Pure & Appl. Sci.. A (27): 3186-3191.
Abstract
Ureaplasma sp. can be found on the mucosal surfaces of the cervix or vagina of 40 to 80% of sexually matured
women and implicated in several complications from urethritis to miscarriages. This study was thus aimed at
ascertaining the prevalence of genital Ureaplasma sp. in Southern and Northern, Nigeria. Qualitative case
controlled study was carried out in two different cities in Nigeria, while convenience sampling and a closed
ended questionnaire where used to obtain data from 824 subjects. Triplicate urogenital swabs were taken from
participants and transferred into transport and culture media. Specimens were inoculated onto A7 agar incubated
at 37oC, for 5 days in 5% CO2. Cultures were examined microscopically daily for 5 days for the appearance of
typical mycoplasma colonies. Results showed that Ureaplasma sp. was isolated from 22 of 70 males (31.4%) at
the Northern Nigerian location, and from 19 of 70 males (27.1%) at the Southern Nigerian location. In females,
83 of 156 (53.2%) swabs were positive at JUTH, and 50 of 104 (48%) at LUTH. At the two locations, a total of
324 asymptomatic participants were sampled, and 28(8.6%) were positive. The prevalence rate of Ureaplasma
sp. among the sexually transmitted disease (STD) patients was 24% while a value of 3.9% was recorded for the
STD controls. Risk factors associated with genital Ureaplasma sp infection among the subjects include subjects
with STI (p value=0.030), those with multiple number of sexual partners (p value=0.040), lack of the use of
condoms (p value=0.014), age of sexual debut <18 years of age (p value=0.023) subjects with low
socioeconomic status in occupation (p value=0.020), and level of education (p value=0.025). The association of
genital mycoplasmas infections was strongest in participants <40 years of age (p value=0.059).
Description
Keywords
Sexually transmitted infections, Demographic information, Ureaplasma, Risk factors
Citation
Faculty of Physical Sciences and Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.