Since its initial description in the 1940s and eventual elucidation as a highly evolved pathogenic bacterium, Mycoplasma pneumoniae has come to be recognized as a worldwide cause of primary atypical pneumonia. Beyond its ability to cause severe lower respiratory illness and milder upper respiratory symptoms it has become apparent that a wide array of extrapulmonary infectious and postinfectious events may accompany the infections in humans caused by this organism. Autoimmune disorders and chronic diseases such as asthma and arthritis are increasingly being associated with this mycoplasma, which frequently persists in individuals for prolonged periods. The reductive evolutionary process that has led to the minimal genome of M. pneumoniae suggests that it exists as a highly specialized parasitic bacterium capable of residing in an intracellular state within the respiratory tissues, occasionally emerging to produce symptoms. This review includes discussion of some of the newer aspects of our knowledge on this pathogen, characteristics of clinical infections, how it causes disease, the recent emergence of macrolide resistance, and the status of laboratory diagnostic methods.

中文翻译：

---

肺炎支原体感染的流行病学，临床表现，发病机理和实验室检测。

自从1940年代最初描述它并最终阐明它是高度进化的致病细菌以来，肺炎支原体已被公认为是世界范围内引起原发性非典型肺炎的原因。除了其引起严重的下呼吸道疾病和较轻的上呼吸道症状的能力外，很明显，由这种生物体引起的人类感染还可能伴随着各种各样的肺外感染和感染后事件。自身免疫性疾病和慢性疾病（例如哮喘和关节炎）正越来越多地与这种支原体相关，支原体经常在个体中长期存在。导致M最小基因组的还原性进化过程。肺炎提示它以高度专业化的寄生细菌存在，能够以呼吸组织内的细胞内状态存在，偶尔会出现症状。这篇综述包括对我们对这种病原体知识，临床感染的特征，其如何引起疾病，对大环内酯类药物的抗药性的最新出现以及实验室诊断方法的现状的一些较新方面的讨论。