The Etiology of Nongonococcal Urethritis in Men Attending a Venereal Disease Clinic

Abstract

Nongonococcal urethritis was identified as a major reason that men attended our Venereal Disease Clinic. The prevalence of several agents that might cause nongonococcal urethritis was determined. Attempts were made to isolate gonococci; chlamydiae, Ureaplasma urealyticum, trichomonads, Candida sp., and Corynebacterium vaginale from urethral swabs from 307 men. Chlamydiae were recovered from 31% of the 67 men with nongonococcal urethritis compared to only 4% of 86 asymptomatic men without pyuria. Unexpectedly, cultures from only 4% of the 99 men with gonorrhea also yielded chlamydiae. Ureaplasma urealyticum was recovered from 9 of 27 asymptomatic men (33%), 16 of 30 men with nongonococcal urethritis (53%) and 16 of 38 men with gonorrhea (42%). These differences were not statistically significant. However, when chlamydiae-positive men were excluded from the analysis, a significant association was found for U. urealyticum and nongonococcal urethritis. Twelve of 18 (76%) men with nonchlamdial nongonococcal urethritis yielded the organism compared to 8 of 26 (31%) men without urethritis. The other organisms sought were recovered infrequently and could not be associated with nongonococcal urethritis.