Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
A survey of complement-fixing antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 1673 children (aged 5-13 years) was conducted in Nigeria. Although the antibodies were detected in 25.7% of the children from the savannah belt and 20.4% of those from the forest belt, only 8.9% and 7.4%, respectively, had titres considered high enough to protect them from infection. The geometric mean titres (GMT) tended to increase with age up to 8 years and then gradually fall. The age-specific differences in GMT were significant (F = 2.98; analysis of variance with x = 0.05) but those due to the child's sex (F = 2.49) and belt of origin (F = 2.61) were not. The results indicate that Nigeria is a highly endemic area for M. pneumoniae infection, with a large pool of susceptible children in which epidemic outbreaks could occur.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Eghafona et al. (1993) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: