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Analysis and Health

How worried should you be about a new 'superbug' STI?

By Alison George

12 July 2018

Âé¶ą´«Ă˝. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Condoms prevent infection by Mycoplasma genitalium

Andrew Brookes/getty

An emerging sexually transmitted infection that you’ve probably never heard of “could become the next superbug”, according to . What exactly is Mycoplasma genitalium, and how worried should we be?

M. genitalium is small bacteria that was first identified in 1981, and at that time it was unclear if it was a STI. Its true nature was only definitively confirmed in 2015 by which found the infection was more common in those who had had more partners or unprotected sex.

One…

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