What is the mycoplasma-ureaplasma treatment pack?
The mycoplasma-ureaplasma treatment pack is a combined treatment of two antibiotics: azithromycin and doxycycline, which both work to fight off two different bacterial infections, mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen) and ureaplasma urealyticum (UU).
Mgen and UU are bacteria which can cause infections in your urethral and reproductive tracts. They can often be present without giving you any symptoms, which means that you can have the infections for a while without noticing anything. They’re infections that can be passed through sexual contact, which means that they can be passed on through vaginal, oral and anal sex – although they’re most commonly passed on through genital contact.
How does mycoplasma-ureaplasma treatment work?
It’s not fully known at the moment whether someone carrying the bacteria but who is asymptomatic necessarily needs treatment. However, where the bacteria is present and causing symptoms, or in people where the bacteria could pose a risk (such as in couples trying to conceive) treatment is usually recommended.[1]
Its two antibiotic active ingredients work to fight off the bacterial infection. The recommendation is that you take a seven-day course of doxycycline followed by a three-day course of azithromycin. They both work in a similar way, by stopping an enzyme from working which the bacteria needs to sustain itself. Once the bacteria is starved of this enzyme, it stops spreading, and your immune system is then able to fight off the infection.
These two antibiotics are known to be effective at treating MGen and UU, but there have been cases of these infections showing resistance to them.
Because of this growing resistance to antibiotics, the BASHH has updated their guidance on prescribing mycoplasma and ureaplasma treatment.[2] If you think you have a mycoplasma or ureaplasma infection, you’ll need to be tested at a specialist genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. You’ll also need to take a broader STI test to rule out conditions like gonorrhoea and chlamydia as the cause of your symptoms. Our expert clinicians can prescribe antibiotics to clear up your mycoplasma or ureaplasma infection if you provide us with your positive mycoplasma test result, and the results of your broader STI test.
But if you’re still showing symptoms after treatment, you’ll need to be re-tested.
Are there different doses of mycoplasma-ureaplasma treatment?
No. Because it’s an antibiotic, the course will be standard between everyone that uses it and has the same infection.
These antibiotics should work to clear up the infection, but due to antibiotic resistance, it’s possible that you might need to use different antibiotics if your infection hasn’t cleared up after you’ve completed the course of treatment. Make sure that you let your clinician know if you still have symptoms after you’ve finished your course of antibiotics, as you may have to go back to the clinic to be re-tested, to see if the infection has cleared up.
After you’ve completed your course of treatment, if you’re still showing symptoms, you should return to your GUM clinic and take another test to make sure that it’s gone. If it’s still present, then it’s generally recommended that you change to a different antibiotic treatment.
Does my partner need mycoplasma-ureaplasma treatment
If you have a sexual partner, previously they may have been prescribed antibiotics even if they didn’t have any symptoms. But the BASHH updated their guidance in 2025 to state that current partners should instead be tested for infection at a GUM clinic, and only prescribed treatment if they test positive.
