Photo Credit: Dr Microbe
The percentage of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections decreased during the pandemic.
The percentage of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) infections decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic but has increased since September 2023, according to research published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Chris Edens, PhD, and colleagues used data from the CDC National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) to compare the percentage of M. pneumoniae-related diagnoses among all pneumonia emergency department visits before (January 2018 to April 2020), during (May 2020 to August 2023), and after (September 2023 to December 2023) the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, during the same period, the study team compared data from the New Vaccine Surveillance Network with the percentage of positive M. pneumoniae laboratory test results in the United States. The researchers observed a decrease in the percentage of M. pneumoniae-related diagnoses among pneumonia emergency department visits reported in NSSP, from 1.15 to 0.35% during the prepandemic period and pandemic period, respectively; this was followed by an increase to 0.89% during the postpandemic period.
