Mycoplasma pneumonia
| Often causes mild illness with upper resp symptoms | |
|---|---|
| Etiology | no peptidoglycan cell wall |
| Epidemiology | "every 4 years"; often affects younger patients |
| Symptoms: | Upper resp symptoms before lower resp. Dry cough. Gradual onset. |
| Signs: | Mucocutaneous: erythema multiforme, erythema nodosum Haem: haemolytic anaemia (due to cold haemagglutinins) → positive DAT, negative IgG GI: gastroenteritis, hepatitis, acute pancreatitis CNS: meningoencephalitis, ADEM, GBS, cranial nerve palsies - likely immune-mediated |
| Investigations: | CXR usually looks worse than clinical findings Sputum: Mycoplasma has no cell wall so no appearance on Gram stain CRP/PCT ratio raised??? |
| Management: | Macrolides or fluoroquinolones |