MYCOPLASMA-PNEUMONIA EPIDEMIC AS A ZOONOS IS - CASE-REPORT

At a Budapest secondary school, in the first class, 30 students became sick with fever and upper respiratory catarrhal symptoms between Sept ember 19 and October 31, 1995. Two children were hospitalized with a d iagnosis of pneumonia. In case of the two children treated at the Capi tal Stent Laszlo Hospital, suspect of Mycoplasma infection raised whic h was also confirmed by cold agglutination test. During the epizootiol ogical examination on the spot they found a terrarium in the class roo m where the students raised a Syrian gold hamster family. Mycoplasmas were isolated from the lung samples of the hamsters during the patholo gical examination which proved to be Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Owing to t he close etiologic relationships between epidemiological anamnesis, ch aracteristics of the epidemic, as well as findings of patients and pat hological or histological findings in the hamsters together with the r esults of bacteriologicai examinations, the epidemic should be conside red as a zoonosis.