Sexually transmittable organisms in the urethra of males with and without urethritis

In 589 males, 169 with and 420 without urethritis, urethral swabs were taken and assessed semiquantitatively for the sexually transmittable infectious agents Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Trichomonas vaginalis and Candida species. The organisms were isolated in patients with and without urethritis as follows: N. gonorrhoeae with urethritis 19.5%, without 0.0%; C. trachomatis with urethritis 16.0%, without 2.9%; U. urealyticum (high cfu-counts) with urethritis 27.2%, without 11.7%; M. hominis (high cfu) with 4.7%, without 2.9%. Combined infections were more frequent in males with urethritis (20.8%) than in those without (5.4%). None of the investigated pathogenic microorganisms could be demonstrated in 37.9% of males with and in 71.2% of males without urethritis. Using loglinear analysis, a significant coincidence of infections with N. gonorrhoeae and U. urealyticum and of infections with U. urealyticum and M. hominis was found. It is concluded that an asymptomatic infection of the male urethra with sexually transmittable organisms is to be expected in partner's control examinations and in patients presenting for other STD like venereal warts or genital herpes. Therefore in these men, even if they are asymptomatic, a comprehensive microbiological examination is strongly recommended.