Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May;31(5):1057-1059.
doi: 10.3201/eid3105.241790. Epub 2025 Apr 18.

Increased Pneumonia-Related Emergency Department Visits, Northern Italy

Simone Villa, Manuel Maffeo, Mauro Maistrello, Giorgio Bagarella, Vincenzo Navobi Porrello, Federica Morani, Francesco Scovenna, Fausto Baldanti, Paolo Bonfanti, Elena Pariani, Andrea Gori, Luigi Vezzosi, Gabriele Del Castillo, Sabrina Buoro, Danilo Cereda

Increased Pneumonia-Related Emergency Department Visits, Northern Italy

Simone Villa et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2025 May.

Abstract

An increase in pneumonia-related emergency department visits was observed in Lombardy, northern Italy, during June-October 2024. Viral causes appear insufficient to explain the increase, suggesting a bacterial cause. Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Bordetella pertussis emerged as possible causes when other surveillance systems were consulted, but the reasons behind this trend remain unknown.

Keywords: Bordetella pertussis; Italy; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; bacteria; outbreak; pneumonia; syndromic surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Increasing number of pneumonia-related emergency department visits for all causes, northern Italy, June–October 2024, compared with previous 3 years. A) Weekly number of pneumonia-associated emergency department visits across all patients. B) Weekly number of pneumonia-associated emergency department visits by age group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Increasing number of pneumonia-related emergency department visits for Mycoplasma pneumoniae (A) and pertussis (B), by age group, northern Italy, June–October 2024. Cases were notified by the regional infectious disease surveillance systems.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ageron FX, Hugli O, Dami F, Caillet-Bois D, Pittet V, Eckert P, et al. Lessons from COVID-19 syndromic surveillance through emergency department activity: a prospective time series study from western Switzerland. BMJ Open. 2022;12:e054504. 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054504 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program Community of Practice. ICD-10-CM master mapping reference table [cited 2024 Nov 4]. https://knowledgerepository.syndromicsurveillance.org/icd-10-cm-master-m...
    1. Meyer Sauteur PM, Beeton ML, Pereyre S, Bébéar C, Gardette M, Hénin N, et al.; European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Mycoplasma and Chlamydia Infections (ESGMAC), and the ESGMAC Mycoplasma pneumoniae Surveillance (MAPS) study group. Mycoplasma pneumoniae: delayed re-emergence after COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Lancet Microbe. 2024;5:e100–1. 10.1016/S2666-5247(23)00344-0 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tessier E, Campbell H, Ribeiro S, Rai Y, Burton S, Roy P, et al. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bordetella pertussis infections in England. BMC Public Health. 2022;22:405. 10.1186/s12889-022-12830-9 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. WHO statement on reported clusters of respiratory illness in children in northern China. 2023. November 22 [cited 2024 Nov 4]. https://www.who.int/news/item/22-11-2023-who-statement-on-reported-clust...

LinkOut - more resources