| Description | Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a pathogen with spectrum of clinical presentations ranging from asymptomatic to pronounced pneumonia. Symptoms start from 6 to 32 days after exposure with headache, malaise, cough, sore throat and fever. The illness can last from a few days to a month or more. Detection by ELISA of M. pneumoniae IgM antibodies or demonstration of a significant increase of specific IgG antibodies is strong evidence for recent infection in the appropriate clinical setting. Specific IgM antibodies typically increase significantly 1 week after clinical onset and specific IgG levels rise in the second week. M. pneumoniae IgM can, however, persist for more than two years after infection, and therefore, detection of specific IgM does not a |
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