Signs and Symptoms

Children who get Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection usually have signs that appear more like a cold than pneumonia.

In general, illness caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae is mild with symptoms that appear and get worse over a period of 1 to 4 weeks. These bacteria can cause several types of infections.

The most common type of illness, especially in children, is tracheobronchitis, commonly known as a chest cold. Common symptoms of a chest cold include:

• Sore throat
• Fatigue (being tired)
• Fever
• Slowly worsening cough that can last for weeks or months
• Headache

Experts have estimated that up to 1 in 10 people who get ill from M. pneumoniae get pneumonia. Common symptoms of pneumonia include:

• Cough that may produce mucus
• Fever and chills
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Fatigue

Children younger than 5 years old often do not run a fever when they have an illness caused by M. pneumoniae. Instead they may have signs that appear more like a cold than pneumonia. They sometimes wheeze, vomit, or have diarrhea.