Researchers in France studied whether a vaginal infection called Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) can clear up on its own without treatment. They followed 48 women who tested positive for MG when they came to a pregnancy termination center. The women did not receive any treatment for the infection.
Over 9 weeks, the study found that nearly half (45.8%) of the women's MG infections went away without any medication. Women who had a lower amount of the bacteria at their first test were more likely to have their infection clear. The study also found that many women with MG (75.7%) had no symptoms, and that some strains of the bacteria were resistant to common antibiotics.
The main reason to be careful with these results is that this was a small, observational study at one center. Only 48 of the 70 eligible women came back for follow-up tests, which could affect the findings. The study suggests that for some women, MG might clear naturally, but more research is needed to understand who this applies to and why.
