14 Known Causes of Ureaplasma

Ureaplasma is a bacteria that is commonly found in people’s urinary or genital tract. It is a parasitic bacteria which means it needs a host such as a human or animal to survive.

Ureaplasma bacteria are part of the body’s bacterial population, they live in balance without causing a problem in most cases. However, sometimes, they can increase in population which causes infections and other health problems. Ureaplasma belongs to a class of bacteria known as Mycoplasma. The Mycoplasma species are the smallest free-living known organisms of their type that can make a copy of themselves to reproduce and are unique among prokaryotes in that they lack a cell wall.

Most healthy women have these bacteria in their cervix or vagina, and a smaller number of men also have them in their urethra. People with a weakened immune system have the highest risk of ureaplasma infection. This includes people who are HIV positive and people who have had an organ transplant.

Listed below are the common causes of Ureaplasma:


1. Urethritis

Urethritis is a condition in which the urethra, or the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body, becomes inflamed and irritated. For men, both urine and the semen passes through the male urethra. It affects people of all ages, both males and females can develop this condition. However, females have a greater chance of developing the condition than males.

This is partly because men’s urethras, which are the length of the penis are much longer than women’s. A woman’s urethra is typically one and a half inches long which makes it easier for the bacteria to travel and enter the urethra. Urethritis typically causes pain while urinating and an increased urge to urinate which is the usual primary infection caused by bacteria and it can be typically cured by antibiotics. In addition to the pain, the patient may also have difficulty in starting to urinate.