title: Prevalence of complement-fixing antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in the savannah and forest belts of Nigeria.
abstract: A survey of complement-fixing antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 1673 children (aged 5-13 years) was conducted in Nigeria. Although the antibodies were detected in 25.7% of the children from the savannah belt and 20.4% of those from the forest belt, only 8.9% and 7.4%, respectively, had titres considered high enough to protect them from infection. The geometric mean titres (GMT) tended to increase with age up to 8 years and then gradually fall. The age-specific differences in GMT were significant (F = 2.98; analysis of variance with x = 0.05) but those due to the child's sex (F = 2.49) and belt of origin (F = 2.61) were not. The results indicate that Nigeria is a highly endemic area for M. pneumoniae infection, with a large pool of susceptible children in which epidemic outbreaks could occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Benin, Nigeria.
authors.forename: N O
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Eghafona
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Emejuaiwe
authors.forename: E N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Obineche
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology*; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D003165:Complement System Proteins