May or may not be a pathogen or problem, depending on the individual circumstances.
There are two types of Ureaplasma that live in the vagina: Ureaplasma parvum and U. urealyticum.
Both types cause inflammation1. U. parvum, and possibly U. urealyticum, are associated with preterm birth1,2. U. urealyticum is linked with male infertility3,4 and bacterial vaginosis (BV), with that effect increasing with the joint efforts of U. parvum5.
Ureaplasma species can form biofilms (in vitro at least), with biofilms strengthening antibiotic resistance6,7.
References
- 1.Tristram D. Maternal Genital Tract Infection. In: Mucosal Immunology. Elsevier; 2015:2215-2229. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-415847-4.00113-0
- 2.Sobouti B, Fallah S, Mobayen M, Noorbakhsh S, Ghavami Y. Colonization of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in pregnant women and their transmission to offspring. Iran J Microbiol. 2014;6(4):219-224. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25802703
- 3.Simón Rodríguez C, Charry Gónima P, García Cardoso JV, González Enguita C. Infectious and Inflammatory Male Infertility. In: Encyclopedia of Reproduction. Elsevier; 2018:291-296. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801238-3.64546-4
- 4.Zhou YH, Ma HX, Shi XX, Liu Y. Ureaplasma spp. in male infertility and its relationship with semen quality and seminal plasma components. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection. Published online December 2018:778-783. doi:10.1016/j.jmii.2016.09.004
- 5.Frølund M, Falk L, Ahrens P, Jensen JS. Detection of ureaplasmas and bacterial vaginosis associated bacteria and their association with non-gonococcal urethritis in men. Fredricks DN, ed. PLoS ONE. Published online April 4, 2019:e0214425. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0214425
- 6.Pandelidis K, McCarthy A, Chesko KL, Viscardi RM. Role of Biofilm Formation in Ureaplasma Antibiotic Susceptibility and Development of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Neonates. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. Published online April 2013:394-398. doi:10.1097/inf.0b013e3182791ae0
- 7.Garcia-Castillo M, Morosini M-I, Galvez M, Baquero F, del Campo R, Meseguer M-A. Differences in biofilm development and antibiotic susceptibility among clinical Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum isolates. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Published online July 18, 2008:1027-1030. doi:10.1093/jac/dkn337
