Mycoplasma hominis home test

Mycoplasma hominis is a small bacterium without a cell wall that is found in the genital organs of many healthy people without causing symptoms (carriership). The bacterium can be transmitted through sex, but is not counted as an STI, because it has not been shown to cause disease in adults. In women, it is mainly found in larger amounts with bacterial vaginosis (a disturbance of the normal bacteria in the vagina). The PCR looks for genetic material of the bacterium in the first part of the urine and does not say whether the bacterium causes symptoms.

• Presence of Mycoplasma hominis in the urethra; this is usually carriership without symptoms

• Collect the urine when you have not passed urine for at least 1 hour.
• Collect only the first part of the stream, not the middle part.

With a positive result without symptoms, no treatment or follow-up check is needed according to the European recommendation. With symptoms, the GP first looks for other causes, such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomonas or, in women, bacterial vaginosis. Mycoplasma hominis is not notifiable.

The PCR detects the bacterium reliably, but a positive result does not distinguish between carriership and an infection that causes symptoms. Mycoplasma hominis is not a proven pathogen: the evidence that this bacterium causes urethritis or other symptoms is insufficient. As a result, a positive result says little, both in people without symptoms and in people with symptoms.

• A positive result does not say whether the bacterium causes symptoms; many people without symptoms also carry the bacterium.
• In men, according to the European recommendation, the bacterium is not linked to urethritis.
• Mycoplasma hominis is naturally insensitive to some of the common antibiotics and often does not disappear permanently after treatment.
• If you urinated less than 1 hour before collecting the sample, or collect more than the first part of the stream, the sample is diluted and the test can miss an infection.

How often Mycoplasma hominis occurs in the Netherlands is not known, because it is not routinely tested for. In international research using PCR, the bacterium was found in 3 to 15 percent of sexually active women who were not pregnant. In men who visited an STI clinic, this was 2 to 4 percent; most people with the bacterium do not become ill.

The result usually does not explain symptoms, because the bacterium also occurs in many healthy people. Urethral symptoms more often fit chlamydia or gonorrhea, and, with symptoms lasting longer than 4 weeks, Mycoplasma genitalium. This test is not suitable for questions about pregnancy or fertility.

• A positive result can lead to unnecessary treatment with antibiotics, with a risk of side effects and of resistance in this bacterium and in other bacteria, including the causes of real STIs.
• A positive result can wrongly give the idea that you have an STI, resulting in worry or tension in a relationship.

• Horner e.a. Should we be testing for urogenital Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma parvum and Ureaplasma urealyticum in men and women? Standpunt van de European STI Guidelines Editorial Board (IUSTI), J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2018
• Multidisciplinaire Richtlijn Seksueel overdraagbare aandoeningen (2024), module B1 Urethritis
• Thuisarts.nl: Ik wil een soa-test doen