Mycoplasma pneumonia

Mycoplasma pneumonia

Mycoplasma pneumonia is caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which can cause both upper and lower respiratory tract infections. In most cases, a milder, but often long-lasting disease course is experienced. For about. In 10% of cases, pneumonia also occurs. Common symptoms are sore throat, fever, cough, headache, hoarseness and other flu-like symptoms.

What is mycoplasma pneumonia?

Most people who are infected by the mycoplasma bacteria do not get pneumonia. For those who get pneumonia from the bacteria, the course and treatment are somewhat different from "normal" pneumonia. Therefore, pneumonia caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae is termed an atypical pneumonia. Other bacteria can also cause atypical pneumonia, but mycoplasma is the most frequent cause. The infection is not considered particularly dangerous and will often go away on its own, although the course may be protracted.

The infection is most frequently seen in children and young people, and often infects school classes and families. Adults can also be affected.

Causes of mycoplasma pneumonia

The mycoplasma bacterium itself is a small bacterium which, unlike most other bacteria, lacks a cell wall. Because of this, penicillin is not effective against the mycoplasma bacteria, as penicillin's mechanism of action is to attack the bacteria's cell wall, with subsequent cell death. Therefore, a mycoplasma infection requires choosing other types of antibiotics as treatment.

Infection with mycoplasma is a fairly common infection that periodically occurs in epidemics. As a rule, mycoplasma infection occurs in autumn and winter. It occurs in all age groups, especially when there is an epidemic. The most frequent occurrence is seen in the group of children aged 3-15.

Mode of transmission and incubation period

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is not considered highly contagious. It is primarily transmitted through close contact, via close droplet transmission and contact infection through contact with mucus from the respiratory tract. In case of infection, the incubation period is 1-3 weeks.

It is estimated that only 10% of those infected develop a pneumonia caused by mycoplasma. The remaining 90% only develop acute bronchitis or an upper respiratory tract infection.

Symptoms of mycoplasma pneumonia

Infection usually causes a long-lasting dry cough (cough without sputum), which is often worse at night.

Other typical symptoms may be:

• Dry cough

• Pain in the throat

• Mild fever

• Headache

• Hoarseness

• Laxity

• Impaired general condition

Less common symptoms include earaches and rashes. Typical flu-like symptoms such as joint pain and abdominal pain are more common than with normal pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia differs from normal pneumonia by its more protracted development and long

Diagnosis

Since the characteristic extraneous sounds of pneumonia are usually not present in atypical pneumonia, normal findings will usually be observed when listening to the lungs. Samples of the mucus in the back of the throat can detect the mycoplasma bacteria early in the course. These samples are taken by inserting a soft stick through the nose. After a few days, the results appear from the laboratory that analyzes the samples. You can also take blood tests that analyze for antibodies against the bacteria, but these take at least a week to analyze and can be done 1-2 weeks after the onset of symptoms at the earliest. In some cases, it is necessary to take an X-ray of the lungs to determine whether the infection has caused pneumonia. It is often difficult to distinguish mycoplasma pneumonia from other atypical bacterial pneumonias and viral pneumonias.

In ongoing epidemics, it may be possible to make a diagnosis based on the mild degree of the disease and the long-term course.

Good advice for mycoplasma pneumonia

• Ensure peace and rest

• Drink plenty of fluids to counteract the fluid loss from the fever

• Get enough nutrition, the body needs fuel to fight the infection!

• Avoid smoke

• Avoid hard training, if you have excess then light physical activity is positive

• If you have a troublesome dry cough, it may be a good idea to try a cough suppressant in the evening

• In case of fever and pain, fever-reducing and pain-relieving medicines can be tried.

Risk factors

A mycoplasma infection is usually quite harmless and has a good prognosis even without antibiotic treatment. Pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics. The disease can last for 3-4 weeks and the main symptom is usually a dry cough accompanied by otherwise mild symptoms and a modest fever.

Severe pneumonia can occur, especially in the elderly, young children and those with weakened immune systems. Smokers are also at risk. Smokers over the age of 40 should always be referred for an X-ray of the lungs 4-6 weeks after pneumonia, or earlier if there is no improvement. Patients with COPD often get worse with pneumonia and this is often a reason for hospitalization.

Some medicines can increase the risk of pneumonia, or have been reported to cause pneumonia as a side effect.

Treatment

In the case of mycoplasma pneumonia, it is usually appropriate to treat with other antibiotics than in typical pneumonia. It is therefore important that the diagnosis is confirmed, so that the correct antibiotic can be prescribed. If you are given antibiotics for pneumonia and do not experience improvement within a few days, you should contact the doctor again to assess whether the wrong antibiotics have been prescribed.

The types of antibiotics used against mycoplasma pneumonia may not be suitable for treating pregnant women in certain trimesters. For this reason, the choice of type of antibiotic should be governed by which trimester you are in. It is therefore important that the doctor takes this into account when prescribing.

The antibiotic course usually lasts 7-10 days and it is important that the course is completed as prescribed by the doctor. If you end the course too soon, the infection can return and become more difficult to treat due to the development of resistance.

If you have a fever and pain, you can use over-the-counter painkillers and antipyretic drugs. Talk to a pharmacist for help choosing the right medicine for you and your children.