Clinical relevance of Ureaplasma urealyticum colonization in preterm infants

Abstract

A cohort of 78 infants of gestational age less than 34 weeks was examined for Ureaplasma urealyticum colonization and neonatal morbidity. Ureaplasma urealyticum was cultured from nasopharyngeal, endotracheal and blood‐culture samples. A child was considered as being colonized if any sample was positive. The children with perinatal U. urealyticum colonization (n= 11; 14%) differed from those with no colonization (n= 67) in two important aspects: (i) they had higher leucocyte counts on the first (18.6 vs 12.4 109) and the second (29.0 vs 15.4 109) days of life (p= 0:01, both days); and (ii) they more often needed high‐frequency oscillatory ventilation (45% vs 13%, p= 0:02). This study showed that U. urealyticum colonization is associated with signs of the host defence response together with symptoms of respiratory tract involvement suggesting the pathogenicity of U. urealyticum in premature infants.

Evaluation of the prevalence of sexually transmitted bacterial pathogens in Northern Cyprus by nucleic acid amplification tests, and investigation of the relationship between these pathogens and cervicitis

“…Some authors suggest that colonization with U. urealyticum and U. parvum in high density is associated with non-specific cervicitis (12) , whereas others suggest that there is not enough evidence to suggest that these bacteria cause cervicitis or PID (13) . However, several studies in pregnant women showed that the presence of these bacteria in amniotic-fluid or membranes might be associated with preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), and neonatal infections (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) . Abele-Horn et al (21) showed that U. urealyticum was associated with preterm labor.…”

Frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis in Ureaplasma-positive healthy women attending their first prenatal visit in a community hospital in Sapporo, Japan

“…They are commonly found in healthy persons, therefore, their pathogenic role can be difficult to prove in a small population of individuals. Meanwhile, several studies have reported that Ureaplasma are associated with some diseases including non-gonococcal urethritis, pregnancy complications and prenatal infections, more often than are normal flora [18-20]. Thus, it might be that Ureaplasma perturb homeostasis in the genital tract, which provides a survival advantage for C. trachomatis .…”

Complete Genome Sequence of Ureaplasma parvum Serovar 3 Strain SV3F4, Isolated in Japan

“…Ureaplasma species can be classified into two major groups: U. parvum (serovars 1, 3, 6, and 14) and U. urealyticum (serovars 2, 4, 5, and 7 to 13) (4, 5). U. parvum has been implicated in the morbidity and mortality of newborns (6–8). U. parvum serovar 3 is the most prevalent serovar detected in reproductive humans (9, 10).…”