Korean J Urol.  2013 Jan;54(1):53-58.

Prevalence and Associated Factors for Four Sexually Transmissible Microorganisms in Middle-Aged Men Receiving General Prostate Health Checkups: A Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Study in Korea

• Choi JY
• Cho IC
• Lee GI
• Min SK

Abstract

PURPOSE
To investigate the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), and Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) in first-voided urine samples and to determine the factors associated with positivity for sexually transmissible microorganisms in healthy, middle-aged Korean men.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Five hundred fifty-one men who came to the hospital for a general prostate health checkup were tested between August 2011 and December 2011. PCR assays for CT, NG, MG, and UU were done with first-voided urine samples and the prevalence of microorganism positivity and association with several clinical parameters were evaluated.
RESULTS
The mean age of the men studied was 50.8+/-4.7 years. Among the 551 men, 72 (13.1%) had a positive result for at least one microorganism; one (0.2%) had two different species. The overall prevalence of asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections was 11.1% (61/551). The prevalence rates of CT, NG, MG, and UU infection in the general population were 0.4% (2/551), 0.0% (0/551), 1.0% (6/551), and 11.8% (65/551), respectively. CT-positive patients had a lower mean age than did CT-negative patients. There were no significant differences in symptoms by positivity of each microorganism.
CONCLUSIONS
We checked the prevalence rates of four microorganisms, the proportion of symptomatic people, and the association of microbes, age, and symptoms, as the baseline data for Korean middle-aged men. In this population, CT, NG, MG, and UU infections do not seem to be symptomatic. However, the potential role of CT in young men and of UU in middle-aged men with a high rate of detection should be studied continuously as a source of opportunistic infection.

Keyword

Chlamydia; Polymerase chain reaction; Sexually transmitted infection; Ureaplasma

MeSH Terms

Chlamydia
Chlamydia trachomatis
Humans
Korea
Male
Mycoplasma genitalium
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Opportunistic Infections
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Porphyrins
Prevalence
Prostate
Ureaplasma
Ureaplasma urealyticum
Porphyrins

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