Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae in Children with Pneumonia

Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children clinically diagnosed as pneumonia Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with the collaboration of Pathology and Pediatrics Departments from November 2018 - April 2019 in King Edward Medical University, Lahore. Total 75 children aged <= 12 years of either gender, clinically diagnosed as pneumonia were included by non-probability, purposive sampling. After diagnosis, 2 ml serum was obtained from venous blood samples and was stored in yellow vacutainers at (-20 similar to -70) degrees C till assayed. Acute & convalescent phase serum specimens were taken. The specific IgA antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae were detected by ELISA. SPSS version 21 was used for data entry and analysis. Quantitative variables such as age were showed as mean +/- SD. Qualitative variables such as gender were showed as frequency & percentages. Chi- Square test was applied to see the association between between age and seroprevalence. p-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Total 20 children (26%) were sero-positive against Mycoplasma pneumoniae. In acute phase, 12(16%) patients and in convalescent phase 16(21.3%) patients had IgA antibodies in serum against Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. Conclusion: Seroprevalence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae was 26.7% in children clinically diagnosed as pneumonia determined by IgA antibodies in serum.