The role of mycoplasmas in reproduction.

A study of the incidence of genital tract mycoplasmas in couples attending an infertility clinic and in a group of pregnant women showed that the frequency of isolation was significantly higher in the infertile group (P less than 0.001). In pregnancy, if mycoplasmas were isolated at the first prenatal visit, these organisms were harbored throughout pregnancy. Five percent of the women, however, developed the infection during pregnancy. No relationship was observed of female genital mycoplasmas with prematurity or babies small for gestational age. Treatment with doxycycline (Vibramycin, Pfizer Ltd., Sandwich, Kent, UK) was effective in eradicating mycoplasmas in 91% of couples, but the subsequent pregnancy rates in treated and untreated groups were similar. It appears that mycoplasmas are implicated neither in the etiology of reproductive failure nor in a poor pregnancy outcome.