CMR FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Waites, K. B.
Right arrow Articles by Talkington, D. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Waites, K. B.
Right arrow Articles by Talkington, D. F.
Clinical Microbiology Reviews, October 2004, p. 697-728, Vol. 17, No. 4
0893-8512/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CMR.17.4.697-728.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Its Role as a Human Pathogen

Ken B. Waites1* and Deborah F. Talkington2

Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35249,1 Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 303332

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a unique bacterium that does not always receive the attention it merits considering the number of illnesses it causes and the degree of morbidity associated with it in both children and adults. Serious infections requiring hospitalization, while rare, occur in both adults and children and may involve multiple organ systems. The severity of disease appears to be related to the degree to which the host immune response reacts to the infection. Extrapulmonary complications involving all of the major organ systems can occur in association with M. pneumoniae infection as a result of direct invasion and/or autoimmune response. The extrapulmonary manifestations are sometimes of greater severity and clinical importance than the primary respiratory infection. Evidence for this organism's contributory role in chronic lung conditions such as asthma is accumulating. Effective management of M. pneumoniae infections can usually be achieved with macrolides, tetracyclines, or fluoroquinolones. As more is learned about the pathogenesis and immune response elicited by M. pneumoniae, improvement in methods for diagnosis and prevention of disease due to this organism may occur.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology, WP 230, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 619 19th St. South, Birmingham, AL 35249. Phone: (205) 934-4960. Fax: (205) 975-4468. E-mail: waites{at}path.uab.edu.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, October 2004, p. 697-728, Vol. 17, No. 4
0893-8512/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CMR.17.4.697-728.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Vaccine Immunol.
J. Clin. Microbiol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2004 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.