Poor accuracy of single serological IgM tests in children with suspected acute Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

Introduction. Early and accurate diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection of children with pneumonia is at the core of treatment in clinical practice. Gap Statement. Serological immunoglobulin M (IgM) tests for MP infection of children in south China have been rarely described. Aim. To assess the diagnostic performance and clinical application of serodiagnosis of MP infection in paediatric pneumonia patients. Methodology. Serum samples from 144 children diagnosed with MP pneumonia were subjected to a particle agglutination (PA)-based IgM assay. Meanwhile, we used an established suspension array as the reference standard method for the detection of MP DNA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from all patients to assess the reliability of serological assays. Results. When running immunological testing in single serum samples, 80.6 %(79/98) of cases were diagnosed with MP infection, whereas only 55 (56.1 %) cases were positive in MP DNA analysis. Furthermore, single serum tests for IgM during acute MP infection resulted in 85.5 % (47/55) sensitivity and 25.6 % (11/43) specificity. Nevertheless, immunological testing and MP DNA analysis yielded the same results when paired sera were available for MP IgM antibody testing. Conclusion. Paired serological IgM assays are necessary for the determination of an acute MP infection, whereas single serological IgM testing is unreliable. Moreover, even a short interval of two MP serological tests works well.