Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a microbe intermediate in size between bacteria and viruses. Pneumonia caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae is most common in children 5 years of age and older, but children under 5 years of age can also develop the disease. Mycoplasma pneumoniae has a periodic epidemic every 3-5 years, with a high incidence in autumn and winter every year.

01

How is Mycoplasma pneumoniae transmitted?

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets, and can carry the pathogen in the secretions of coughing, sneezing, and runny nose. Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection patients, asymptomatic infected patients, is the main source of infection. The disease has an incubation period of 1-3 weeks and is contagious during the incubation period until symptoms resolve for several weeks.

02

What are the symptoms of mycoplasma infection?

Main clinical manifestations: fever, cough (may be accompanied by headache, runny nose, sore throat, earache, etc.), fever is mainly medium and high fever, persistent high fever indicates serious illness. Cough is more severe, and some children have wheezing, which is common in infants and young children. The early signs of the lungs are not obvious, and with the progression of the disease, there may be decreased respiratory sound and dry and wet rales.

Mild: does not develop, or only presents as upper respiratory tract infection

Severe cases: can cause pneumonia, lung consolidation, pleural effusion, necrotic pneumonia and so on

03

How do I check for mycoplasma pneumoniae?

1, mycoplasma culture: it is the "gold standard" for diagnosing mycoplasma infection, but it requires special conditions and slow growth, which is difficult to use for clinical diagnosis.

2, mycoplasma nucleic acid detection: high sensitivity and specificity, suitable for the early diagnosis of mycoplasma pneumonia.

3, mycoplasma antibody determination: Mycoplasma-igm antibodies generally appear 4-5 days after infection, can be used as an early diagnostic indicator of infection.

04

How to recover after infection with mycoplasma pneumoniae?

Mycoplasma does not belong to bacteria or viruses, is a prokaryotic cell type microorganism, no cell wall structure, so the antibacterial drugs acting on the cell wall, such as penicillin, cephalosporin antibiotics, etc., can not kill it.

Macrolide antibiotics such as azithromycin, erythromycin, roxithromycin are the first choice for treatment.

Because some antibiotics can affect bone development (e.g., levofloxacin, moxifloxacin) or tooth enamel development (e.g., doxycycline, minocycline), pediatric patients need to choose antibiotics with fewer side effects under the guidance of their pediatrician. Azithromycin and clarithromycin are the drugs of choice for children.

Mycoplasma pneumonia patients do not use drugs without authorization, must be under the guidance of professional doctors, after weighing the pros and cons to give the appropriate treatment plan!

05

Mycoplasma pneumoniae, prevention is the truth

(1) In the popular season, pay attention to indoor ventilation, and ventilate for no less than 30 minutes each time to maintain fresh air.

(2) Try to avoid public places with dense crowds and poor ventilation, and wear a mask when you must go.

(3) When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue and throw the used tissue into a dustbin with a lid.

(4) Pay attention to hand hygiene, use soap, hand sanitizer in running water to clean hands. If running water is not available, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer and other wipes to disinfect hands.

(5) Adhere to physical exercise, ensure adequate sleep, reasonable diet, ensure adequate nutrition, and improve the body's immunity and resistance.

(6) Schools, kindergartens and other places should pay attention to ventilation and disinfection, do a good job of daily cleaning, strengthen health monitoring, to avoid clustered infections.