Clinical Information

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a small bacterium transmitted via organism-containing droplets. It is a cause of upper respiratory infection, pharyngitis, and tracheobronchitis, particularly in children, and has been associated with approximately 20% of cases of community acquired pneumonia.(1) Central nervous system and cardiac manifestations are probably the most frequent extrapulmonary complications of infections due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The disease is usually self-limited although severe disease has been reported in immunocompromised patients.(2)

Identification of Mycoplasma pneumoniae by culture-based methods is time consuming and insensitive. Serology based assays for Mycoplasma pneumoniae have several drawbacks. The development of IgM antibodies takes approximately 1 week and the IgM response in adults may be variable or it may be decreased in immunosuppressed individuals.(3,4) Confirmation of the disease may be dependent on the observation of a 4-fold rise in IgG antibody titers between acute and convalescent specimens, several weeks following the initial onset of illness, providing clinical utility only for retrospective testing.(4) Real-time PCR offers a rapid and sensitive option for detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae DNA from clinical specimens.