Work

Evaluation of IgM Lateral Flow Assay as a Screening Tool for Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection in Childhood Pneumonia

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is challenging (1). Current diagnostic tests include M. pneumoniae-specific IgM serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of upper respiratory tract (URT) specimens (2, 3), but these tests are also positive in asymptomatic patients carrying M. pneumoniae in the URT (1, 4). IgM may be detected within about 1 week after symptom onset (1, 5–8). The “gold standard” is considered a ≥4-fold rise in antibody levels (1), despite the need of paired sera and low sensitivity (4, 8). We demonstrated that the measurement of M. pneumoniae-specific IgM antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay differentiates between M. pneumoniae infection and carriage (4).

Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology

DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01498-20

Authors: Patrick M. Meyer Sauteur, Elena Pánisová, Lucas M. Bachmann, Lilliam Ambroggio, Christoph Berger

Institutions: University Children's Hospital Zurich, Medignition (Switzerland), Children's Hospital Colorado

Language: English

Topic: Microbial infections and disease research

Subfield: Microbiology

Field: Immunology and Microbiology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Universität Zürich