Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an important cause of community-acquired pneumonia in school-aged children and adults and the incidence is also increasing in other age groups. It has a varied presentation and apart from respiratory system involvement, it also involves many other systems of the body. In children, central nervous system involvement is very common followed by dermatological, hematological, and other systems. Extrapulmonary manifestations can even cause long-term sequel. Since this organism does not have a cell wall, the diagnosis is always difficult and a strong possibility has to be kept in mind so that the treatment can be started early. The choice of antibiotics is limited, as betalactam antibiotics (which act on the cell wall) do not act on it. In this article, we have reviewed the up-to-date knowledge of M. pneumoniae infection in children.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.