Specimen Collection
Urogenital Sites:
Females:
Collect a vaginal swab and place in normal microbiology transport media.
Store at room temperature
.
Specimen should reach the laboratory within 24 hours
.
Note: Urine specimens from females are not acceptable.
Males:
Collect 10 - 20 mL of a first catch urine specimen.
The specimen must reach the laboratory within 2 hours
. Alternatively, collect a urethral swab, store and transport as above. A urine sample is preferable as this allows quantitation and significance to be determined more accurately.
Male specimens submitted from the
community
must be
urethral swabs only
- urine specimens are not acceptable due to the delay in transport to the laboratory.
Semen:
Collect in a plain urine container pot or collect in a red top UTM (Universal Transport Medium) tube.
Store at room temperature
.
Specimen should reach the Microbiology laboratory within 24 hours
.
All other specimens:
Please contact the Clinical Microbiologist.
Turnaround Time: At least 4 days
Diagnostic Use and Interpretation
Mycoplasma hominis
,
Ureaplasma urealyticum
and
U. parvum
are frequently found in the human urogenital tract in both healthy individuals and symptomatic patients.
Routine screening of asymptomatic men and women or routine testing of symptomatic individuals for
Mycoplasma hominis
or
Ureaplasma
spp. is not recommended.
In pregnancy, the role of
Mycoplasma hominis
and
Ureaplasmas
in preterm birth and midtrimester abortions has not been resolved; requests should be limited to those with specialist experience in this area.
References:
Horner P, Donders G, Cusini M, Gomberg M, Jensen JS, Unemo M. Should we be testing for urogenital
Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma parvum
and
Ureaplasma urealyticum
in men and women? - a position statement from the European STI Guidelines Editorial Board. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2018 Nov;32(11):1845-1851. doi: 10.1111/jdv.15146. Epub 2018 Jul 6.
Donders GGG, Ruban K, Bellen G, Petricevic L. Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma infection in pregnancy: to screen or not to screen. J Perinat Med. 2017 Jul 26;45(5):505-515. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2016-0111.
Contact Information
For further information, contact the Microbiology Department via Lablink or the Clinical Microbiologist:
Lablink contact details
Dr Sally Roberts
, Microbiologist:
ext 22705
Cellphone
021 674 140
Dr Sharmini Muttaiyah
, Microbiologist:
ext 22700
Cellphone
021 615 892
Dr Mary de Almeida
, Microbiologist:
ext 22700
Cellphone
021 170 9117
Dr Matthew Blakiston
, Microbiologist: contact via Lablink
Dr Veronica Playle
, Microbiologist: contact via Lablink