Clinical characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in Korean children during the recent 3 epidemics

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is a major cause of community-acquired pneumonia in children. Since 2000, emerging macrolide-resistant MP has been reported. Three epidemics of MP pneumonia have occurred in Korea during the past 10 years 2006–2007, 2011, and 2015. We investigated the differences in MP pneumonia of each epidemic in terms of clinical, laboratory, and radiologic perspectives. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 529 medical records of children (1–18 years of age) who were admitted and diagnosed with MP pneumonia at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital during the past 3 epidemic periods. We compared the clinical, laboratory, and radiologic characteristics of MP pneumonia among individual epidemics and between children younger and older than 6 years of age. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 5.7 years old, which had increased by each epidemic and showed the highest (6.3 years old) in 2015 compared to previous epidemics. Among 3 epidemics, there were no sex differences. The duration of fever after admission and hospitalization, and the percentage of lobar pneumonia and use of systemic steroids increased significantly in 2015 epidemic. Since 2006, the mean levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and lactate dehydrogenase had increased and in 2015 it marked the highest. Children older than 6 years showed a higher proportion of lobar pneumonia and pleural effusion as well as longer duration of fever (before and after admission) and hospitalization days than those younger than 6 years. CONCLUSION: This study suggests an increasing incidence of refractory MP pneumonia which required a more frequent use of systemic steroids over the past 10 years, and children older than 6 years were found to have more severe pneumonia than those younger than 6 years.