The disease is caused by a mycoplasma bacterium – known to all doctors, but resistant to traditional antibiotics.
An increase in cases of pneumonia in children associated with the Mycoplasma bacterium began to be recorded not only in China, but also in Denmark, France and the Netherlands. Also, an increase in incidence was recorded in one of the American districts of Ohio.
There has not been a widespread or pronounced increase in mycoplasma pneumonia in other countries, but this bacterium usually causes epidemics every one to three years. There has been no real wave of illness in the US since before the Covid-19 pandemic, CNN reports, so experts predict there will be another outbreak this year.
Assessment of morbidity
“We expect that some seasons are worse than others for mycoplasma infections, and it certainly appears that in the US and Europe this year may be worse than other years,” explains Vanderbilt University pediatric infectious disease specialist Buddy Creech.
Also last week, European experts conducting mycoplasma surveillance at 45 sites in 24 countries reported that the incidence of cases, which dropped to less than 1% during the coronavirus pandemic, began to rise again at the beginning of the year. According to a report published in The Lancet Microbe, there was an average increase of more than fourfold during the summer and autumn of this year, with larger increases occurring in Asia and Europe.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resistance to the antibiotics used to treat this infection may have played a role in the increase in cases in China.
“You can see periodic epidemics every few years, especially among children 5 to 12 years old, that is, school-age children,” said Peter Hotez, one of the vaccine developers at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Return of a common infection
The bacterium Mycoplasma pneumonia is not a mystery to doctors, because it usually causes mild or “walking” pneumonia. Its main symptoms are a cough that can last for several weeks, fever and headache, and usually a patchy rash on the body, back or arms.
It should be noted that pneumonia can be caused by various viruses, bacteria and chemicals. But now the main causes of this disease in the world, discovered during the test, are Mycoplasma and Strep bacteria, as well as adenovirus.
“We do not believe this is a new respiratory illness, but rather a significant increase in the number of pneumonia cases that typically occur around the same time,” health officials in Warren County, Ohio, said in a statement. .
What patients should know
American pediatric infectious disease specialist Buddy Creech said that the number of patients may be higher than the official statistics, because most cases of pneumonia caused by mycoplasma are milder and are usually treated in the pediatrician’s office. .
“The burden of disease often lies in the pediatrician’s office seeing a child with a cough that won’t go away, or a cough that’s slightly more significant than what we might see with a cold,” says Creech.
Pneumonia is often treated with antibiotics such as amoxicillin without first testing to determine the cause.
“In these situations, usually there’s not a lot of testing done, and the pediatricians have to use antibiotics. And if that works, the patients get better, and if it doesn’t work, the kids go to the hospital and they will get tested. So I think it is inevitable that we underestimate the amount of mycoplasma,” he said.
Creech added that it’s important for parents and health care providers to be alert because the number of mycoplasma cases is likely to increase this year.
First-line antibiotics that treat most types of pneumonia do not work against mycoplasma infection. For these, doctors must prescribe a different type of antibiotic, usually azithromycin or Z-Pak. However, Z-Paks are not very effective in treating pneumonia caused by other pathogens.
“The understanding for parents is that when you start taking antibiotics for pneumonia, there is usually a reasonable response to therapy in the first two days. If not, this is a good time to go back to your pediatrician,” said Creep.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.