Organism names and abbreviations for bacteria and protozoa
| Binomial name | Genus | Abbreviation of organism name | Condition* | Abbreviation of infection name† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia trachomatis | Chlamydia | C. trachomatis | Chlamydia | CT |
| Mycoplasma genitalium | Mycoplasma | M. genitalium | M. genitalium infection‡ | MG |
| Neisseria gonorrhoeae§ | Neisseria | N. gonorrhoeae | Gonorrhoea§ | NG¶ |
| Treponema pallidum | Treponema | T. pallidum | Syphilis | TP |
| Trichomonas vaginalis | Trichomonas | T. vaginalis | Trichomoniasis | TV |
*Only capitalise first letter if used at the start of a sentence, otherwise lowercase.
†In general, we discourage the use of abbreviated names for conditions. These abbreviations can be used in tables and figures where space is limited. They still need to be spelled out at the first use.
‡There is no agreed name at present.
§Please note the ‘e’ at the end of the Latin species name. There is no ‘e’ at the end of the name of the condition. We use UK English spelling, which has an extra ‘o’ in the name of the condition.
¶GC cannot be used to abbreviate Neisseria gonorrhoeae. GC is used mainly in the UK as an abbreviation of gonococcus, the shape of the bacterium (see table 3).