Clinical characteristics of patients with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

Abstract

Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients diagnosed with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

Methods: A retrospective study of clinical and epidemiological characteristics of acute infections by M. pneumoniae confirmed by PCR was carried out in the Navarra Health Service (Spain) in 2014-2018.

Results: M. pneumoniae infection was confirmed in 9.5% of analyzed patients. Among 123 confirmed cases, 65% were 5-14 years old, 21.1% <5 years old, and 13.8% were ≥14 years old. Pneumonia was radiologically confirmed in 83.7% of cases, and 22.0% presented extra-respiratory manifestations. A total of 44.7% of cases required hospitalization. Bilateral pneumonia, asthmatic crisis and extra-respiratory manifestations were associated to higher risk of hospitalization (81.3, 72.2 and 66.7%, respectively). Microbiological targeted treatment was monotherapy with macrolides in 60.2% of cases and combined with other antibiotics in 13.0%.

Conclusion: M. pneumoniae was the cause of acute respiratory infection affecting mainly to children younger than 14 years old and frequently required hospitalization.

Keywords: Antibiotic treatment; Community acquired pneumonia; Epidemiologia; Epidemiology; Manifestaciones clínicas; Mycoplasma pneumonia; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Neumonía adquirida en la comunidad; Polymerase chain reaction; Reacción en cadena de polimerasa; Tratamiento antibiótico.