Prevalence and Atopy Association of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae and Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infections in Infants with Recurrent Wheezing

Abstract

The most common cause in the etiology of wheezing is respiratory tract infections. Viruses (in especially RSV), Chlamydia Pneumoniae and Mycoplasma Pneumoniae bacteria can cause transient airway hypersensitivity and wheezing by causing tissue damage and inflammation when they reach the lower respiratory tract. The association has been demonstrated and discussed between these two atypical bacteria and asthma. By setting major and minor parameters for predicting asthma risk, the asthma predictive index (API) was developed in children with excessive wheezing. This study was planned to examine the relationship of atopy and atypical bacterial infections in infants with persistent wheezing. Thirty-two females and fifty-eight males children under 2 years of age were included in the study. Fifty-six cases (62.2%) were positive for API and thirty-four cases (37.8%) were negative. The presence of infection was investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. It was found that both infections were substantially more serious in the second year than in the first year of life. However no statistically meaningful outcome was obtained, when comparing the presence of both pathogens and API positivity. Regardless of the API, the existence of bacterial agents was found to be statistically meaningful, especially in the range of 1-2 years, when subgroup analysis was performed in children with wheezing under the age of 2 years. It is appropriate to keep in mind the existence of these two bacteria in wheezy children. In the second year of life, both infection agents also showed a statistically significant increase and found that these patients could develop persistent wheezing.