Isolation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae from children with lower-respiratory-tract infections.

The prevalence and clinical pictures of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections among children were studied using culture and serological techniques. The isolation rate was 22% (195 of 885) in pneumonic patients and 11% (66 of 600) in non-pneumonic patients. In patients three years of age or less, M. pneumoniae was isolated at the same rate from febrile and afebrile cases and from wheezy and non-wheezy cases. In older patients, however, M. pneumoniae was frequently isolated from febrile but non-wheezy cases. A peak in the number of the positive isolates was found in patients who were four years old. The peak number of M. pneumoniae infections at age four was confirmed serologically. This peak was in patients who were younger than those previously reported.