BACKGROUND Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is the leading cause of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality in patients with sickle cell disease. Radiographic and clinical findings in ACS resemble pneumonia; however, etiologies other than infectious pathogens have been implicated, including pulmonary fat embolism (PFE) and infarction of segments of the pulmonary vasculature. The National Acute Ches...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae, commonly known as a major causative agent of primary atypical pneumonia, also causes various kinds of extrapulmonary manifestations involving almost all the organs of the human body. The author has classified the extrapulmonary manifestations due to M. pneumoniae infection into three categories: the first is a direct type in which locally induced cytokines play a role, th...

The original hygiene hypothesis suggests that early childhood respiratory infections preceding allergen exposure may decrease the prevalence of allergic diseases. We have recently demonstrated that Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection preceding allergen exposure reduced allergic responses in mice. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the protective role of M. pneumoniae in allergic responses...

An association between infection and Tourette's syndrome (TS) has been described repeatedly. A role for streptococcal infection (PANDAS) has been established for several years, but the involvement of other infectious agents such as Borrelia Burgdorferi or Mycoplasma pneumoniae has only been described in single case reports. We examined antibody titers against M. pneumoniae and various types of ...

Throat swabs from children with suspected Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) infection were cultured for the presence of M. pneumoniae and its species specificity using the 16S rRNA gene. Seventy-six M. pneumoniae strains isolated from 580 swabs showed that 70 were erythromycin resistant with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) around 32-512 mg/L. Fifty M. pneumoniae strains (46 resistan...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumonia) is one of the important causes of upper and/or lower respiratory tract infections during childhood. Central nervous system (CNS) related findings and complications are most commonly seen and have been described in patients with M. pneumoniae infections [1,2]. Patients suffering M. pneumoniae infection may have varying degrees of neurological complications at...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a major cause of respiratory infections and a possible etiology of acute hepatitis. Acute hepatitis due to M. pneumoniae infection is often combined with presentation of pneumonia, even without lung involvement. The presentations and etiologies of M. pneumoniae-associated hepatitis with simultaneous, delayed, or without, lung involvement are different, and should be dis...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children, but there has been no clinical report on M. pneumoniae infections in Vietnamese children. We investigated the clinical features of M. pneumoniae infection when the pathogen was detected in the respiratory tract in hospitalized children aged 1-15 years due to lower respiratory tract infections or CAP in Vi...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a leading cause of respiratory infections, including community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Currently, pathogen-specific testing is not routinely performed in the primary care setting, and the United States lacks a systematic surveillance program for M. pneumoniae. Documentation of individual cases and clusters typically occurs only when severe illness and/or failure to im...

In this study, we developed a single-tube multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA) assay to type Mycoplasma pneumoniae directly from respiratory samples collected from children with respiratory infections. The multiplex PCR included four fluorescently primed VNTRs (Mpn13, Mpn14, Mpn15, and Mpn16) and was carried out in a single tube. A total of 137 M. pneumoniae-posit...