title: The prevalence of causative organisms of community-acquired urethritis in an age group at high risk for sexually transmitted infections in Korean Soldiers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to evaluate the causative organisms in young male soldiers with clinical signs and symptoms after sexual contact that suggests a diagnosis of urethritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between June 2012 and January 2015, male patients with urethritis symptoms that had resulted from sexual contact within 3 months participated in this study. All patients were evaluated using urinalysis and were screened for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Mycoplasma hominis (MH), herpes simplex virus (HSV) type II and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) using multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay in order to detect sexually transmitted infections (STI) or pathogens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 436 male patients aged 18-28 years were included in the study. The median age was 22.0 years. The prevalence of STI pathogens were as follows: NG in 19.0%, CT in 36.6%, UU in 24.0%, MG in 21.5%, MH in 6.1%, HSV type II in 1.6%, TV in 0.2% and indeterminate STI pathogens in 9.4%. Coinfection of NG with non-NG was detected in 5.7% of the participants, while the coinfection rates for STI pathogens were: with CT in 3.4%, with UU in 2.7%, with MG in 0.2% and with MH in 0.2%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT was the most prevalent STI pathogen and coinfections of NG with non-NG appeared less frequently. The young male soldiers with urethritis should be administered suitable antibiotics for STI pathogens that were found by mPCR results, rather than an experimental combination of antibiotics for coinfections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Institute of Wonkwang Medical Science, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.|Department of Urology, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D014526:Urethritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult