Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine the prevalence of Mycoplalsma species among patients samples submitted to R/O Chlamydia trachomatis conjunctivitis.
Methods: :
Molecular assays for species specific Mycoplasma ( M. pneumoniae, M. genitalium) and Chlamydia species (C. pneumoniae and C. trachomatis) were used to screen random aliquots of current and archived patients samples submitted to rule out chlamydia conjunctivitis during a 20 year period (1999-2010). Prevalence of mycoplasma and coinfection with Chlamydia species were compared.
Results: :
Mycoplasma pneumoniae was documented in 13.9% (N=14/101) of the screened samples, followed by 10.9% (N=11/101) for both Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae. 93% (13/14) of the Mycoplasma positive samples were from 2009 (N=7) and 2010 (n=6). Mycoplasma genitalium was not detected among these screened patient samples. Coinfection with Mycoplasma and Chlamydia species was observed in less than 1% (1/101) of the samples, while coinfection with multiple Chlamydia species was 4%.
Conclusions: :
Mycoplamsa pneumoniae may be a frequent and undetected cause of acute and chronic conjunctivitis. C. pneumoniae conjunctivitis maybe as frequent as C. trachomatis infectionsin South Florida. Common topical antibiotics may be less than optimal in the management of mycoplasma and or chlamydia conjunctivitis.
Keywords: bacterial disease • conjunctivitis • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence