Gardnerella vaginalis is associated with other sexually transmittable microorganisms in the male urethra

In a prospective study, urethral swabs were taken from 544 men presented to an STD clinic, 118 with and 426 without urethritis, and examined by microscope and/or culture for G. vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Candida species and Trichomonas vaginalis. G. vaginalis was isolated from 4.2% of the males with urethritis and from 6.3% of those without urethritis. Using loglinear analysis, the following associations were significant (p less than 0.05): three-way: G. vaginalis, U. urealyticum, C. trachomatis; two-way: G. vaginalis, U. urealyticum and G. vaginalis, M. hominis and U. urealyticum, M. hominis. It is concluded that G. vaginalis is associated with genital mycoplasmas not only in the female, but also in the male urogenital tract.