Frequency and significance of isolation of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis from cerebrospinal fluid and tracheal aspirate specimens from low birth weight infants

To investigate the pathogenicity of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in preterm infants, we conducted a study to determine (1) frequency of isolation from cerebrospinal fluid and tracheal aspirate specimens and (2) clinical outcomes and effect of erythromycin treatment in ureaplasma-colonized infants. From the cerebrospinal fluid of 920 infants, U. urealyticum was isolated from 2 (0.2%) and M. hominis from none. From tracheal aspirale specimens from 224 infants, U. urealyticum was recovered from 37 (17%) and M. hominis from 4 (2%). Demographic characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared in very low birth weight infants (