The doctor told about the dangers of mycoplasma pneumonia

Against the background of mycoplasma pneumonia, a sick person may develop inflammation of the mucous membrane, which is damaged, and the body subsequently stops coping with new viruses and bacteria. Lyubov Stankevich, PhD, Director of Laboratory Medicine and Manufacturing at LabQuest Laboratory, told Izvestia on April 4.

"We are contacted by patients who have a fever for a long time, cough does not go away, and their general condition remains severe. At the same time, they note that this does not look at all like either the flu or covid. Many people are starting to panic: some are remembering the "new virus", others — about the coronavirus times. But the reason may be quite understandable if you look more broadly than just SARS. In fact, there are many more respiratory infections that cause severe course than two or three well-known viruses. For example, we are increasingly recording cases of mycoplasma pneumonia," she noted.

The expert clarified that this disease can begin with the usual symptoms — runny nose, cough, weakness and fever. But at some point, the cough gets worse, becomes annoying, blood streaks appear and the disease descends into the lower respiratory tract.

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"Against the background of mycoplasma, a person often develops severe inflammation of the mucous membrane, it is damaged, and the body stops coping with new viruses and bacteria. And then a vicious circle begins — only a person gets out of one disease and after a few days he gets sick again," the doctor added.

Stankevich stressed that mycoplasma is not a virus, but a bacterium, so it does not respond to conventional antiviral drugs. Here, antibiotic therapy is needed, and strictly according to the sensitivity of the pathogen. Nevertheless, it is not only mycoplasma that can cause the symptoms characteristic of this pneumonia, so accurate diagnosis is important.

Earlier, on March 15, Vera Serezhina, an infectious disease specialist at the LabQuest medical company, told Izvestia that the flu affects the upper respiratory tract, spreading to the trachea, bronchi and lungs. It is accompanied by high fever — up to 39-40 degrees, severe intoxication, headache and muscle pain, tachycardia.