MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE INFECTION IN A RESIDENT BOYS' HOME1

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Abstract
During the 1964-1965 school year, an outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Eaton agent) infection occurred within a population of approximately 90 students residing in a boys'' home and attending local public schools in Omaha, Nebraska. The outbreak was associated with an epidemic wave of acute lower respiratory tract disease occurring during a 10-week period in the fall of 1964. Serologic studies indicated that 42% of the boys were infected with M. pneumoniae. Of those infected, 19 (45%) had an associated illness, exhibited predominantly lower respiratory tract involvement and experienced disability ranging from negligible in 8 cases to relatively severe (requiring hospitalization) in 2 cases. Specific infection occurred at a significantly higher rate among boys residing in the 4 cottages housing elementary and junior high school students than in the 2 cottages housing high school students. Antibody to M. pneumoniae as measured by the growth inhibition test was a sensitive indicator of immunity to specific infection and persisted for sufficiently long periods following infection to be of particular value in serodiagnosis when early convalescent blood samples were not available.