A new form of sexually transmitted disease called mycoplasma genitalium, which poses greater threat to people of black origin, has been confirmed by scientists in the United Kingdom.
The confirmation of the bacterial disease which causes painful urination among other things is coming more than two decades after it was first discovered, according to health.com.
The website submitted that the confirmation of the bacterial disease was arrived at following a national survey on the sexual lifestyle of British men and women by a team of fourteen researchers.
According to the report, the researchers said the study, which involved testing urine from 4,507 sexually experienced participants aged 16 to 44 years for , “strengthens evidence that MG is an STI”.
“MG was identified in over one per cent of the population, including in men with high-risk behaviours in older age groups that are often not included in STI prevention measures.”
The study discovered that black men were more likely to test positive for the disease, adding that the prevalence of the disease was 1.2 per cent in men and 1.3 per cent in women.
Though no positive MG tests in men aged 16 to19, prevalence peaked at 2.1 per cent in men aged 25–34 years, while prevalence in women was highest in 16 to 19-year-olds at 2.4 per cent and decrease with age.
The study added, “Men with MG were more likely to report previously diagnosed gonorrhea, syphilis or non-specific urethritis, and women previous trichomoniasis.”
A clinical associate professor, Raquel Dardik was quoted in the report as saying that the symptoms for women included irritation, painful urination and bleeding after sex, while those for men included painful urination and watery discharge from the penis.
The study said the disease has been linked to both inflammation in the cervix and pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a serious condition often caused by other STDs like chlamydia and gonorrhea
