Abstract
An increasing number of patients with atypical pneumonia were seen at the residents of the collective houses provided by a paper manufacturing company in the summer of 1967. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was established as the etiological agent in 80.5% of 36 patients who were subjected to serologic study. Familial infection was common. Outstanding symptom was cough. Skin rashes were noticed in 3 cases. Complement-fixing (CF) and indirect-hemagglutinating (IHA) antibody titers rose about 10 days after infection and remained unchanged for at least 2 months, but declined 9 to 12 months later. CF and IRA antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae were both of the 19S and 7S types. There was an increase of 7S relative to 19S CF antibodies with time after the onset of illness, and almost all CF antibodies were 7S a year later. IHA antibodies were predominantly 19S globulins in various stages of illness.
