Evaluation of a commercial enzyme immunoassay for detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae specific immunoglobulin G antibodies.

A commercial enzyme immunoassay (Platelia Mycoplasma, Diagnostics Pasteur) for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae [corrected] infections was evaluated and found not to be suitable for the purpose. More than 80% of healthy persons and patients with non-Mycoplasma pneumoniae respiratory infection, all with a negative Mycoplasma pneumoniae complement fixation test, had a positive EIA. Paired sera did not show the positive correlation between a rise in complement fixation titre and the EIA ratio reported by the manufacturer.