The persistence of mycoplasmas in the urogenital tract of men in the Antarctic
SUMMARY A series of meatal swabs, taken from 17 men over a period of 17 months during their tour at an Antarctic base was examined for mycoplasmas. The number of organisms isolated never exceeded 10 4 and not every specimen from each man yielded mycoplasmas. Nevertheless, Mycoplasma hominis was isol...
| Published in: | Journal of Hygiene |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1974
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022172400023585 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022172400023585 |
| Summary: | SUMMARY A series of meatal swabs, taken from 17 men over a period of 17 months during their tour at an Antarctic base was examined for mycoplasmas. The number of organisms isolated never exceeded 10 4 and not every specimen from each man yielded mycoplasmas. Nevertheless, Mycoplasma hominis was isolated from 71% and T-mycoplasmas from 59% of the men at some time during their stay. M. hominis persisted in the presence of serum IHA antibody titres of 1/64. Three subjects yielded only M. hominis and one only T-mycoplasmas. Six men had already spent a year at the base when the study began and myco-plasmas were still being isolated from some of them at the end of a 31 month period of isolation. The persistence of mycoplasmas in the male genital tract can therefore be independent of sexual contact. Two modes of persistence are suggested; either a few men act as carriers and reinfect the others by contaminating their environment, or as seems more likely, most men have chronic infections. |
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