Ureaplasma – is it possible to cure?
How can I get ureaplasmosis?
Ureaplasmosis, or mycoplasmosis, is a sexually transmitted disease caused by a group of bacteria called mycoplasma. Its second name is ureaplasmosis, which has become even more popular than the main one, the disease has received for the ability of some mycoplasmas to split urea, that is, to ureolysis.
Ureaplasmosis is transmitted sexually. Often you hear the questions “is it possible to catch ureaplasmosis in the pool, in the sauna, on the beach, etc.” The answer to these questions is simple – yes, you can get infected anywhere, but the causative agent of the disease can get from one person to another only as a result of sexual intercourse.
As a rule, mycoplasmas are transmitted during classical sexual intercourse without using a condom and during oral intercourse, but infections are also known during anal sex.
There is only one non-sexual transmission of mycoplasma – the baby can become infected from the mother during labor when passing through the birth canal.
How does the disease manifest?
The incubation period for mycoplasmosis is on average from 4 days to a month. All this time, the disease does not let know about itself, but a person for this period becomes a carrier of infection and is able to infect other people. After an incubation period of infection, the patient develops urethritis symptoms – burning and pain in the urethra when urinating and mucous discharges appear, more often in the morning. If the infection occurred during oral sex, a sore throat develops with all the usual symptoms for it. In the overwhelming majority of cases, especially in women, ureaplasmosis is not asymptomatic, and all manifestations of the disease are so insignificant that the often ill person does not attach any importance to them. Especially for the representatives of the stronger sex, it is characteristic to tell yourself something like “a real man will not worry about nonsense,” finding an excuse in this thought not to go to the doctor. But the mild symptoms of the disease do not reflect its seriousness at all.
If the infected person does not begin treatment, after a few days the symptoms of urethritis disappear on their own, which serves as an even greater reason to calm down. But, unfortunately, ureaplasmosis does not end there. At this point, the infection, as a rule, reliably settles in the wall of the urethra, in the prostate gland in men and in the vagina and in the uterus in women. From this point on, the disease will only wait in the wings, that is, reduce local immunity in order to manifest itself in full force. The reason for this can be one of the situations that the hard life of any person abounds in – overcooling, considerable physical exertion, prolonged stress, any cold or inflammatory disease, etc. After that, the man most often develops prostatitis – an inflammation of the prostate gland with a persistent tendency of the inflammatory process to spread to the seminal vesicles and testicles. Therefore, long-term untreated ureaplasmosis in men often leads to secondary infertility. A woman develop colpitis (inflammation of the vagina), endometritis (inflammation of the uterus wall), somewhat less often cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) and pyelonephritis (inflammation of the kidney tissue). At this stage, the disease is more difficult to treat, since mycoplasmas have already reliably “settled” in the body.
Often there are cases when, due to the low pathogenicity of pathogens from one country and because of the good state of the body’s immune system from another mycoplasma, they do not manifest themselves for a long time (up to several years). This situation is called carriage of infection, and it presents a significant risk. A person may not even suspect that ureaplasma has lurked in his body, and that he is capable of infecting his beloved and his beloved. In this way, many situations arise, about which people write something like this: “We have been married for several years, we don’t change each other, and suddenly I have discovered ureaplasma …” Life shows that many men much more willingly explain this kind of infidelity to a spouse, rather than a consequence of too free bachelor life. In addition, even without giving any notice of themselves, ureaplasma creates a suitable background for the development of other diseases, and the person carrying ureaplasma is much more susceptible to other infections, especially venereal infections.
Ureaplasmosis and pregnancy
“I have a 12 week pregnancy, I have been tested and found urepalamosis” – venereologists have to hear similar stories almost every day. I want to calm women a little right away – this situation is rather serious and difficult, but modern medicine has quite effective means to help you. If you immediately contact a competent specialist venereologist and follow all his recommendations, everything will be fine with you and your child.
