Smith, Simon, Adamson, Penelope J., Sadlon, Tania A., and Gordon, David L. (2016) Prevalence of macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae in South Australia. Pathology, 48 (6). pp. 639-642.

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Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae remains a common cause of community acquired respiratory tract infections in adults and children. To provide empirical coverage against M. pneumoniae, doxycycline or a macrolide combined with a β-lactam is considered the most appropriate therapy for patients with community acquired pneumonia in Australia.1 Documented outbreaks of macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae (MRMP) have occurred in several countries, including China2 and Japan3 with resistance also being reported in Europe,4,5 North America6 and South Korea.7 Rates of resistance amongst paediatric populations with lower respiratory tract infections and community acquired pneumonia have been reported to be up to 30% in Japan8 and as high as 90% in China.9 Despite Australia's relatively close proximity to countries with high rates of MRMP, there has only been a single case recorded in Australia10 and the overall prevalence of resistance remains unknown. In this study we utilised polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and high resolution melt analysis (HRMA) to determine the prevalence of common point mutations responsible for encoding high-level macrolide resistance in confirmed M. pneumoniae samples from South Australia.

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