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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1427702
This article is part of the Research Topic Change in Epidemiology and Etiology of Respiratory Tract and Gastrointestinal Infections during COVID-19 Pandemic View all 9 articles

An Outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in Children After the COVID-19 Pandemic, Shanghai, China, 2023

Provisionally accepted
Xunhua Zhu Xunhua Zhu Pengcheng Liu Pengcheng Liu Hui Yu Hui Yu Libo Wang Libo Wang Huaqing Zhong Huaqing Zhong Menghua Xu Menghua Xu Lijuan Lu Lijuan Lu Ran Jia Ran Jia Liyun Su Liyun Su Cao LingFeng Cao LingFeng Xiaowen Zhai Xiaowen Zhai *Yi Wang Yi Wang *Jin Xu Jin Xu *
  • Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the infection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) decreased significantly. At the beginning of the summer of 2023, there was an increasing trend of MP infection in China and the MP pneumonia (MPP) is surging when it comes to the school season and lasts for several months which has attracted widespread attention. Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalent characteristics of the MP and the difference between the COVID-19 pandemic and the post in Shanghai, China. Methods: The demographic information and the results of laboratory pathogen detection from July 2021 to May 2024 were collected and analyzed to find out the prevalent characteristics of MP. Two periods, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic, were divided and compared. The P1 genotyping and macrolide resistance-associated gene of 23s rRNA were detected using the remaining MP-positive samples. Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of the MP has significantly decreased. Female children are more susceptible to MP infection than the male. The school-aged group (>6 years) had the highest infection rate. The rate of MP P1 genotype during post panel is higher than that during COVID-19 pandemic, which is dominant from July 2021 to May 2024, while the macrolide-resistant associated mutations (A2063G) keep high percentage during or post pandemic.

    Keywords: Mycoplasma pneumoniae, COVID-19, p1 genotyping, macrolide resistance, nonpharmaceutical intervention, Epidemiology

    Received: 04 May 2024; Accepted: 15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhu, Liu, Yu, Wang, Zhong, Xu, Lu, Jia, Su, LingFeng, Zhai, Wang and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiaowen Zhai, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
    Yi Wang, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
    Jin Xu, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.