MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE INFECTIONS IN UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN STUDENTS

Abstract

A study of Mycoplasma pneumoniae was made in University of Wisconsin students admitted to the infirmary from 1960 to 1965. Patients with pneumonitis and pneumonia represented 9.1% of all infirmary admissions in this period; 52% of 120 pneumonia cases studied were associated with M. pneumoniae; 4.9% of 41 patients with acute bronchitis were similarly positive for M. pneumoniae. Tetra-cycline failed to eradicate the organism and positive cultures were found as long as 2 months after admission. Patients with acute respiratory disease represented 10.7% of all admissions but study of 125 patients revealed M. pneumoniae in only 1; acute pharyngoton-sillitis accounted for 8.5% of the admissions and M. pneumoniae was found in 4 or 4.3% of 92 such patients studied. Epidemiologic analysis revealed a 4 to 5-year cycle of M. pneumoniae and of total pneumonia. Clinical features were not distinctive enough to differentiate mycoplasma positive and mycoplasma negative pneumonias. An interesting feature was the occasional presence of rash. M. pneumoniae is an important cause of pneumonia in the young adult and may play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic bronchitis.