Reservoir and Transmission:

The children are an important M. pneumoniae reservoir. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is transmitted from person-to-person contact through respiratory secretions during coughing and sneezing which is respiratory droplet transmission. Hence, close contact is required for transmission, and the bacteria are more commonly found among members of the same family and in schools and day-care institutions. The contagion requires a continuous contact because of the sensitivity of M. pneumoniae to changes in temperature and humidity levels. There is little point in isolating someone infected with the virus since some people carry the infection without feeling ill.

Once attached to the mucosa of a host organism, M. pneumonia extracts nutrients, grows and reproduces by binary fission. Attachment sites include the upper and lower respiratory tract, causing pharyngitis, bronchitis and pneumonia. The infection caused by this bacterium is called atypical pneumonia or “walking pneumonia” because of its protracted course and lack of sputum production and wealth of extra-pulmonary symptoms.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae has an incubation period of about 1 to 4 weeks, which means it may take up to four weeks after exposure to get Mycoplasma pneumonia. They symptoms of infection are headaches, muscle pain, scratchy aching throat, worsening dry cough, fever, chills, vomiting, slow heartbeat, breathlessness, bluish color to lips and nail beds, diarrhea and rash. The most common clinical syndrome following with M. pneumonia is tracheobronchitis. However, over this time period, symptoms may slowly begin to appear. An epidemic occurs every three to five years.