Epidemic Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Infection at a College for the Deaf |
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Authors: | Harold S. Kaye M.S. Natalie B. Powell R.N. Regina F. Niedzwiecki B.S.N. Dorothy R. Stiles R.N. |
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Affiliation: | 1. Respiratory Virology Branch, Viral Diseases Division , Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control , Atlanta, Georgia, 30333, USA;2. Gallaudet College Student Health Service , Washington, D.C., 20002, USA |
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Abstract: | Abstract An outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection affected up to 110 students and employees at a college for deaf students (Gallaudet). After the introduction of M. pneumoniae onto the campus in late August 1977, the disease spread slowly among the students; the last documented case occurred in mid-December. A thorough review of chart records, mail surveys, a dormitory survey, and a three-month surveillance of the student health service provided an intensive look at the epidemiology and clinical spectrum of a mild to moderately severe disease in the epidemic setting. A matched-pair analysis demonstrated a more serious clinical illness among patients with M. pneumoniae than other patients presenting with febrile respiratory illness. Appropriate antimicrobial therapy appeared to suppress a high antibody response to M. pnuemoniae. A follow-up serosurvey one year after this outbreak demonstrated diagnostic titers to M. pneumoniae in 11 of 30 patients with confirmed infection in the original epidemic. |
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