Study of Prevalence of Community Acquired Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infections at KIMS Hospital, Hubballi, India

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common and important pathogenic cause of community-acquired pneumonia presenting with fever and respiratory symptoms of varied severity. Therefore, laboratory diagnostic methods are particularly important for the diagnosis and treatment of atypical pneumonia. A study was conducted to determine the significance of this association and to estimate the prevalence of Community Acquired Mycoplasma Pneumonia by detecting IgM antibodies of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in the serum of patients attending the KIMS OPD, Hubballi with complaints of fever and respiratory symptoms. Serum samples of 82 patients were collected and tested for Mycoplasma pneumoniae IgM antibodies by using commercially obtained (Calbiotech) Mycoplasma pneumoniae IgM ELISA kit. Out of 82 serum samples tested for Mycoplasma pneumoniae-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), 10 were positive accounting to 12.19%. Detection of IgM antibodies by ELISA for precise and reliable diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections during the acute phases of disease indicating a possible use of ELISA as a valid diagnostic approach in early detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in patients with Community acquired pneumonia.