Pneumonia Due toMycoplasma pneumoniae

IN a previous study in Seattle Mycoplasma pneumoniae was demonstrated to be an important cause of respiratory-tract disease.1 In that study, patients with infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract were selected for study by clinic physicians as probably having a "nonbacterial" disease, and the patients were from a number of hospitals and clinics. Although these selection factors did not detract from the conclusion that M. pneumoniae was a significant respiratory pathogen in the Seattle community it did preclude an accurate measurement of the risk of respiratory disease from this cause in a discrete and representative population sample. In . . .