[Asymptomatic pharyngeal carriage of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in Chilean children].

PCR has become a sensitive option for the rapid detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in respiratory specimens, but little is known of the frequency of its asymptomatic carriage or persistence in the throat after Mycoplasma disease in healthy children. To investigate the frequency of asymptomatic carriage of M. pneumoniae in children, we studied by PCR throat specimens from 185 respiratory asymptomatic children aged 1-14 years, enrolled at two pediatric ambulatory health services of Santiago, Chile from September 2002 through August 2003. M. pneumoniae DNA was detected in 4 (2.16%) children. Positive specimens could represent either asymptomatic carriage or persistence of the organism from a previous disease.