Seroprevalence of anti-Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibodies in otherwise healthy children

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mypn) infection could be occurring at an earlier age due to social phenomena such as attending daycare centers more frequently and earlier than decades ago. Objective: to estimate the prevalence of anti-Mypn antibodies in children aged 0-12 years, and to explore whether age, attendance to daycare center/school, overcrowding or the presence of children aged below 12 years in the households increase the risk of seropositivity. Patients and Method: Cross-sectional study including healthy children aged 0-12 years which required blood draws for routine laboratory tests. In all cases, the aforementioned variables were recorded and anti-Mypn IgG was determined by enzyme immunoassay. The association between predictors and seropositivity was assessed in a logistic regression model. Results: We included 232 patients (average age 56.4 +/- 40.0 months). 56.9% attended a daycare center/school, 63.8% co-habited with children under 12 years old, and 15.9% lived in overcrowded households. The prevalence of anti-Mypn antibodies was 14.6%. There were no significant differences between seropositive and seronegative children regarding age (63.1 +/- 40.7 vs. 55.4 +/- 41.3 months), school/day-care attendance (64.7% vs. 55.5%), overcrowding (14.7% vs. 14.9%), or co-habiting with children (64.7% vs. 63.6%). Age was not an independent predictor of seropositivity in the multivariate model. Conclusion: The prevalence of anti-Mypn antibodies in children was 14.6% and age was not a predictor of seropositivity.