Mycoplasma salivarium in the blood of a child with leukemia

Mycoplasma salivarium was recovered from the blood of a five-year-old girl who had leukemia and subsequently developed pneumonitis. The patient's pneumonitis failed to respond to nafcillin, a cell-wall-active antibiotic, but eventually she recovered from the pneumonia after a regimen of erythromycin. Sputum, oropharyngeal, and nasopharyngeal cultures revealed normal bacterial flora; a blood culture was negative for bacteria. Throat and sputum cultures were negative for mycoplasma; however, M salivarium was recovered from the patient's blood. The patient had a cold hemagglutinin titer of 1:250.