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. 2024 Dec;13(1):2332680.
doi: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2332680. Epub 2024 Apr 3.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae at the rise not only in China: rapid increase of Mycoplasma pneumoniae cases also in Spain

Ana Dacosta Urbieta  1   2   3 , Gema Barbeito Castiñeiras  4 , Irene Rivero Calle  1   2   3 , Jacobo Pardo Seco  2   3 , Carmen Rodríguez Tenreiro  2   3 , Ricardo Suárez Camacho  1   2 , María Luisa Pérez Del Molino Bernal  4 , Federico Martinón Torres  1   2   3
Affiliations

Mycoplasma pneumoniae at the rise not only in China: rapid increase of Mycoplasma pneumoniae cases also in Spain

Ana Dacosta Urbieta et al. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

After the use of facemasks, other isolation measures enacted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic were lifted, respiratory pathogens, such as RSV, reappeared, but until the November 2023 WHO alert for China, M. pneumoniae had virtually disappeared. After observing a similar reappearance in our hospital, a retrospective analysis of the number of positive M. pneumoniae tests. Between 2018 and December 2023, 1619 PCR tests were ordered and 43 (2.6%) of them were positive. Two outbreaks, one in 2018 and one in 2023, accounted for the majority of cases. Tests were usually ordered in an outpatient setting (53.54%, n = 23) and most of them were paediatric patients with a mean age (sd) of 10.2 (6.2) years. As for the severity of the cases, in the 2018 outbreak, of 15 children who tested positive, 53.3% (n = 8) were admitted to the ward and 6.7% (n = 1) at the intensive care unit. Whereas in 2023, 2 patients were tested in the ward (10.5%) and one in the intensive care unit (5.2%) from a total of 19 patients. The positive rate in 2023 was significantly higher in comparison with years 2020, 2021 and 2022 and significantly lower in comparison with 2018 (P-value=0.003). The outbreak in late 2023 can be explained by the seasonality of Mycoplasma pneumonia alone, which has shown outbreaks every 3-5 years, and it does not appear to be more severe than the previous one.

Keywords: Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Paediatric Pneumonia; Pneumonia; community acquired pneumonia; respiratory infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

FM-T acted as the principal investigator in randomized controlled trials of Ablynx, Abbot, Seqirus, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, Sanofi Pasteur, Cubist, Wyeth, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, Regeneron, Jansen, Medimmune, Novavax, Novartis, and GSK, with honoraria paid to his institution. FM-T reports a relationship with GSK Vaccines SRL that includes consulting or advisory. FM-T reports a relationship with Pfizer Inc. that includes consulting or advisory. FM-T reports a relationship with Sanofi Pasteur Inc. that includes consulting or advisory. FM-T reports a relationship with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. that includes consulting or advisory. FM-T reports a relationship with MSD that includes consulting or advisory. FM-T reports a relationship with Seqirus Pty Ltd that includes consulting or advisory. The remaining authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Total number of positive cases by semester (green line) and % of positive cases over total tests requested by semester (red line) from 2018 to 2023.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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