What are mycoplasma antibodies in children?

The medical explanation of antibodies is that after contracting a certain disease or being infected with a certain virus, the body will produce a substance that fights the virus. This is the so-called antibody. In the words of the common people, after suffering from a disease once, the body will have something to fight it, so it will not be easy to get it again. So, what exactly is mycoplasma antibody in medicine?

effect

Mycoplasma antibodies generally lurk in the human immune system, and their existence time usually ranges from a few months to a few years, and some even last for ten to several decades. When our body is invaded by mycoplasma again, mycoplasma antibodies will appear to eliminate the mycoplasma, thereby protecting our body from invasion. However, mycoplasma antibodies are not omnipotent. If the mycoplasma invasion exceeds the therapeutic range of mycoplasma antibodies, people will suffer from symptoms of mycoplasma infection again.

Serology

There are mycoplasma-specific serological tests and nonspecific serological tests. When the human body is infected with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, it can produce specific IgM and IgG antibodies. IgM antibodies appear early, usually one week after infection, reach a peak at 3 to 4 weeks, and then gradually decrease. Since the incubation period of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is 2 to 3 weeks, when patients develop symptoms and seek medical treatment, IgM antibodies have reached a fairly high level. Therefore, positive IgM antibodies can be used as a diagnostic indicator for acute infection. If IgM antibody is negative, it cannot be denied that Mycoplasma pneumoniae is infected.

IgG antibodies need to be detected. IgG appears later than IgM and needs to be observed dynamically. If it increases significantly, it indicates a recent infection, while if it decreases significantly, it indicates the late stage of infection. The simultaneous measurement of IgG and IgM can improve the diagnosis rate and achieve the purpose of guiding medication and improving efficacy.

Myth

Myth 1

A single positive mycoplasma antibody test only means that there has been an infection in the past and does not mean that the infection is currently present. In fact, mycoplasma infection is a self-limiting disease that can heal itself within a month. There is no need to make a fuss about it and treat it blindly. That's just to fool people who don't understand medicine.

After a person gets sick, he or she will produce antibodies against the disease. This is just like getting a vaccination. Antibodies will be produced after the vaccination. Viral infections can provide lifelong immunity, and bacterial infections can last at least half a year without recurrence of infection. For those who are repeatedly infected, the immune effect can be further prolonged, even providing lifelong immunity. This has the same effect as a booster shot.

Myth 2

There is no need for re-examination after treatment, because the antibodies need to last at least half a year before turning negative. Some people have frequent checkups, and sometimes there are antibodies and sometimes there are no antibodies. They mistakenly think that they have recovered but how could they be infected again? In fact, the tests are not always accurate. The hard truth is to believe that you have no symptoms.

Some patients with vaginitis are not actually caused by mycoplasma infection but by other reasons. In clinical practice, we often encounter patients with recurrent vaginitis. These patients often have frequent sexual activities and do not use pH 4 weakly acidic feminine care solution for daily cleaning. Because the vagina has a self-cleaning function, when these microorganisms break their balance, the dominant microorganisms will cause trouble and cause our vaginal inflammation. In mild cases, there will only be itching and pain at first, and then inflammation or other diseases will occur. If we ignore it, it will get worse. If we do not use pH 4 weakly acidic feminine care solution for daily cleaning, that is, we are treating and cultivating at the same time, which is equivalent to doing useless work. It is also easy for various microorganisms to develop drug resistance. When the day comes that all the bacteria in our bodies develop drug resistance, there will be no cure for us when we get sick again. This is a very scary thing. Mycoplasmas can coexist with humans without showing signs of infection. Moreover, as a normal population, even if the carrier rate is reduced through drug treatment, the carrier rate will return to its original level after a period of normal sexual behavior. Therefore, don't panic, and don't abuse medication.