Mycoplasma pneumonia has these symptoms

Mycoplasma pneumonia is a common viral disease that is generally transmitted through the respiratory tract, such as saliva, nasal secretions, etc. Once infected, the patient will experience general discomfort, fatigue, headache, high fever of around 39 degrees, accompanied by dry cough, sore throat, muscle aches, etc.

1. Causes

The pathogen is Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a microorganism between bacteria and viruses, without a cell wall structure, facultative anaerobic, and the smallest microorganism that can live independently. It is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract. Healthy people are infected by inhaling oral and nasal secretions emitted when patients cough or sneeze. Pathogens usually exist between the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory tract and do not invade the lung parenchyma. They adsorb to the surface of the host respiratory epithelial cells through the neuraminic acid receptor sites on the cell membrane, inhibit ciliary activity and destroy epithelial cells.

2. Clinical manifestations

The onset is slow, with an incubation period of about 2 to 3 weeks. Symptoms at the beginning include general discomfort, fatigue, and headache. Fever develops 2 to 3 days later, with the temperature often reaching around 39°C and lasting for 1 to 3 weeks, and may be accompanied by sore throat and muscle aches.

Cough is the most prominent symptom of this disease, which usually begins 2 to 3 days after the onset of the disease. It is a dry cough at first, and then turns into a stubborn and severe cough, often with thick sputum occasionally stained with blood. In a few cases, it may be similar to whooping cough. It can last for 1 to 4 weeks. Pulmonary signs are often subtle or even absent. A few people can hear dry and wet music. However, many of the masses disappeared, so the physical signs were inconsistent with the clinical manifestations such as severe cough and fever, which is one of the characteristics of this disease. Infants and young children have an acute onset, a long course, and more severe conditions, with symptoms such as dyspnea, wheezing, and more prominent wheezing, and more lung rales than older children. Some children may suffer from hemolytic anemia, meningitis, myocarditis, groin, Green-Barry syndrome and other extrapulmonary manifestations.

Treatment

Early use of appropriate antimicrobial drugs can alleviate symptoms and shorten the course of the disease. The disease is self-limiting and most cases heal on their own without treatment. Macrolide antibiotics are the first choice, such as erythromycin, roxithromycin and azithromycin. Fluoroquinolones such as levofloxacin, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin, and tetracyclines are also used to treat Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. The course of treatment is generally 2 to 3 weeks. Because Mycoplasma pneumoniae has no cell wall, antibacterial drugs such as penicillin or cephalosporin are ineffective. For those who suffer from severe choking and coughing, appropriate antitussive drugs should be given. If secondary bacterial infection occurs, targeted antibacterial drugs can be selected for treatment based on sputum etiology examination.

The disease is self-limiting, and most cases can heal themselves without treatment. The use of appropriate antibacterial drugs can alleviate symptoms and shorten the course of the disease.

Erythromycin is the first choice for treatment, but tetracyclic antibiotics can also be used. Early use of appropriate antibiotics can alleviate symptoms and shorten the course of the disease to 7 to 10 days.