Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance of Ureaplasma urealyticum in Sperm Cultures: A Retrospective Analysis", Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Aims: Mycoplasmas are bacteria of the urogenital tract often associated with various infections and infertility. In terms of treatment, acquired resistance to antibiotics has been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Ureaplasma urealyticum strains isolated during sperm culture, in order to help update therapeutic protocols for the treatment of U. urealyticum-associated infections

Place and Duration of Study: These were men received at the INHP from January 2018 to December 2021 for sperm culture

Methodology: This is a retrospective study in which the culture results of 907 semen samples received in the laboratory between 2018 and 2021 were analysed. Identification, indicative counts and antibiotic susceptibility testing of U. urealyticum were performed using the Biosynex Mycoplasma kit.

Results: 283 strains of U. urealyticum were isolated between 2018 and 2021, with an average prevalence of 31.2%. In 2018, only minocycline, josamycin and roxithromycin were active on all the strains tested, while fluoroquinolones and clindamycin showed high levels of resistance, with rates of 75.9% and 86.1% respectively. From 2019 onwards, resistance spread to all antibiotics, with increasing levels of resistance, with the exception of minocycline, which remained active on all strains. The highest resistance rates were observed in 2021 and were 74.6% and 96.6% for pristinamycin and clindamycin respectively.

Conclusion: Despite the high level of resistance, minocycline and josamycin have shown relatively stable antibacterial activity and could be proposed as the molecules of choice for the treatment of U. urealyticum infections. Closer monitoring of the development of antibiotic resistance in these bacteria is therefore necessary.