Mycoplasma is bacteria that causes an infection in your respiratory tract or lungs. As such, it may cause you to suffer with a sore throat, bronchitis or walking pneumonia.
Mycoplasma is contagious and is spread via infected nose or throat droplets, generally from a cough or sneeze. But, this respiratory infection is not believed to be highly contagious because prolonged contact may be required.
Symptoms usually don’t arise right after exposure, possibly taking a couple of weeks or more to develop. And then they slowly build.
Typical symptoms resulting from a mycoplasam bacteria respiratory infection are:
- fever
- fatigue
- headache
- sore throat
- chest discomfort
- spasmodic cough
And your respiratory infection symptoms can persist for a long time, in some case over a month.
Another health condition caused by a mycoplasma infection is walking pneumonia. Walking pneumonia is considered an atypical type of pneumonia because your symptoms are generally mild. In fact, this bacterial infection still enables you to continue walking around because you’re not sick enough.
The common symptoms of this kind of mycoplasma bacterial infection are:
- fever
- chills
- headache
- chest pain
- sore throat
- hyperhidrosis
- dry cough, not bloody
You may also experience a couple of these other infrequent symptoms due to your walking pneumonia:
Occasionally, mycoplasma infection can cause or be associated with some other health conditions, like:
- UTI
- urethritis
- pharyngitis
- myocarditis
- optic neuritis
- rhabdomyolysis
- cryoglobulinemia
- hemolytic anemia
- acute pancreatitis
- chronic prostatitis
- chronic pelvic pain
- erythema nodosum
- infectious myringitis
- skin rashes, lesions
- erythema multiforme
- Henoch-Schonlein purpura
- ear infection ~ otitis media
Antibiotics is standard treatment for mycoplasma bacteria caused respiratory infection or walking pneumonia. However, this form of treatment is not indicative unless your symptoms are severe. And the best way you can treat yourself is to rest, drink plenty of fluids and consume a healthy diet.
You may build an immunity post mycoplasma infection, but don’t expect lifelong because milder recurrences do happen. And no vaccine is available to prevent this cause for a respiratory infection or walking pneumonia.