Mycoplasma pneumoniae IgМ
Mycoplasma is a genus of bacteria that do not have a cell wall. This fact plays an important role in the choice of antibiotics for the treatment of diseases caused by mycoplasmas. The action of many antibiotics (for example, penicillins) is aimed at disrupting the formation of the bacterial cell wall, therefore, mycoplasmas are not affected by such antibacterial agents.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae can affect the respiratory tract, causing the following diseases:
- Pneumonia (most often)
- Otitis media of the middle ear
- Tracheobronchitis
- Pharyngitis
- Meningitis – inflammation of the lining of the brain
The pathogen belongs to opportunistic microorganisms, that is, it becomes the cause of the disease only when conditions favorable for it arise in the body: a decrease in general immunity, hypothermia, the presence of concomitant diseases. The diseases that M.pneumoniae causes are not related to the seasons and geographical features of the region.
Approximately 40% of community-acquired pneumonias in children and the elderly are associated with M.pneumonia, as this category of patients is most susceptible to the pathogen (V Waites "M.pneumoniae and its role as a human pathogen" Clin. Microbiol, 2004).
Due to the lack of a cell wall, mycoplasma cannot stay outside the human body for long. Transmission of the pathogen can occur through close contact with a sick person who releases mycoplasma into the external environment with coughing. Outbreaks of mycoplasma infection are usually observed in groups of people in close contact: schools, barracks, kindergartens and so on.
The clinical manifestations of mycoplasma pneumonia do not differ from ordinary pneumonia. The only thing that may suggest and mycoplasma pneumoniae is the fact that the disease does not succumb to standard methods of treatment and the group nature of morbidity.
The ELISA diagnostic method is the most optimal method for diagnosing M.pneumonia due to its reliability at low cost and relatively short test time. The definition of IgM to M.pneumoniae refers to the serological diagnosis of infections. The test material is blood, in which antibodies to the pathogen are detected. Antibodies are components of the body's immune system that are produced to destroy a particular foreign protein-antigen. In this case, the antigen is mycoplasma (Mycoplasma pneumoniae). There are several types of antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM. Each of these antibodies has its own function and its own period of occurrence. IgM is produced as early as 5 days after infection. IgM peaks at 1-2 weeks, then there is a gradual decrease in their number and after 2-3 months the antibodies disappear completely even without treatment (IgG replaces them). If during the chronic course of mycoplasmosis there is an exacerbation - IgM reappears.