Optimized serodiagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections

Serologic methods are well established for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in humans, but they are less sensitive than polymerase chain reaction (PCR). To improve their sensitivity, a new panel of antigens was tested. Compared with PCR results, up to 92% of PCR-positive patients were confirmed by our immunoblotting approach having a specificity between 92.6% and 100%.