A serological investigation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection on the Witwatersrand.

Sera from patients with respiratory disease were examined for antibody to Mycoplasma pneumoniae by complement fixation test. During the study period of about 6 years, a 3-year cycle of infection was observed, which coincided with some epidemics in the UK and USA, suggesting the possibility of an approximately simultaneous world-wide spread. The epidemics lasted about 18 months each, during which the incidence of infection was over 10 times that of the interepidemic periods.