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C. trachomatis can be differentiated into 18 serovars based on monoclonal antibody based typing assays. Serovars A, B, Ba, and C are associated with trachoma (a serious eye disease that can lead to blindness), serovars D-K are associated with genital tract infections, and L1-L3 are associated with lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen (i.e. the bacterium lives within human cells) and can cause numerous disease states in both men and women. Both sexes can display urethritis, proctitis (rectal disease and bleeding), trachoma, and infertility. The bacterium can cause prostatitis and epididymi-tis in men and cervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), ectopic pregnancy in women. C. trachomatis is also an important neonatal pathogen, where it can lead to infections of the eye (trachoma) and pulmonary complications.

Gonorrhea, which is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is an important public health problem and is the most common reportable infectious disease. An estimated 700,000 new gonococcal infections occur annually in the United States. Gonorrhea is most frequently spread during sexual contact. However, it can also be transmitted from the mother’s genital tract to the newborn during birth, causing ophthalmia neonatorum and systemic neonatal infection.

Ureaplasma species and Mycoplasma are causes of nonchlamydial nongonococcal urethritis. Mycoplasma species do not cause vaginitis, but they may proliferate in patients with bacterial vaginosis and may contribute to the condition. M hominis has been isolated from the endometria and fallopian tubes of approximately 10% of women with salpingitis; M genitalium may also be involved in pelvic inflammatory disease and cervicitis. Ureaplasma species can cause placental inflammation and may invade the amniotic sac early, causing persistent infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including premature birth. The two Ureaplasma biovars, Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum, have now been designated as separate species. Separation of these species is not possible except via molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Trichomoniasis is the most common, curable sexually transmitted disease in the world. It is also one of the three most common vaginal infections in women. According to the World Health Organization’s annual estimates, there are an estimated 7.4 million trichomoniasis cases each year in the United States, with over 180 million cases reported worldwide. Trichomoniasis is caused by a one-celled parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis. Trichomoniasis affects both women and men. The most common location of infection in women is the vagina, and in men it is the urethra.

Candida albicans is a diploid fungus (a form of yeast) and a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans. Under normal circumstances, C. albicans lives in 80 percent of the human population with no harmful effects, although overgrowth results in candidiasis. Candidiasis is often observed in immunocompromised individuals such as HIV-positive patients but may also occur in the blood and in the genital tract.

Treponema pallidum is a species of spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause a disease such as syphilis. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease whose route of transmission is almost always through sexual contact, although there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero or at birth. T. pallidum is transmitted via penetration of the spirochetes through mucosal membranes and abrasions on epithelial surfaces.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is considered to be the most common cause of vaginal inflammation among both pregnant and non-pregnant women and prevalences between 4.9% and 36.0% have been reported from European and American studies. It previously was called nonspecific vaginitis or Gardnerella-associated vaginitis. The adult human vagina is a complex ecosystem containing an abundance of microorganisms. In women of childbearing age this system is dominated by Lactobacillus spp., a genus of gram-positive, non-motile rod-like bacteria, a defining characteristic of which is the ability to grow in acid media and tolerate acid conditions (pH

Chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) represents a bacterial infection of the prostate gland. CBP causes an associated symptom complex, the hallmark of which is the occurrence of relapsing urinary tract infections. Approximately half of all men eventually develop symptoms consistent with prostatitis. This symptom complex accounts for approximately 25% of urologic evaluations in men.