Epidemiological characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in hospitalized children in Beijing: 10-year retrospective analysis / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the season, age and gender distribution of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection in children in Beijing, and to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of MP infection.@*Methods@#A total of 4 271 children with community acquired pneumonia hospitalized at the Respiratory Department of Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Capital Institute of Pediatrics were collected between January 2006 and December 2015.MP 16S rRNA and tandem repeat locus-Mpn16 were amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction(PCR).@*Results@#Among 4 271 specimens, 1 042 were positive for MP by PCR, and the positive rate was 24.4% (1 042/4 271 cases). There were 3 MP outbreaks (2006-2007, 2012-2013 and 2015, respectively). The positive rate was up to 44.6% in the epidemic year, but as low as 13.0% in the non-epidemic year.The positive rates of MP in spring, summer, autumn and winter were 21.2% (217/1 022 cases), 22.0% (230/1 044 cases), 28.9% (320/1 108 cases) and 25.1% (275/1 097 cases), respectively.There were mild epidemic peaks in April to May and August to September every year.The infection rates of MP in autumn were significantly higher than those in other 3 seasons(χ2=16.50, 13.30, 4.07, all P<0.05). The positive rates of children in each age group were 10.6% (69/651 cases) in < 1 year old group, 17.5% (216/1 233 cases) in 1- 2 years old group, 28.5% (369/1 294 cases) in 3-6 years old group, and 35.5% (388/1 093 cases) in > 7 years old group, respectively.The positive rate of preschool and school-age children was 31.7% (757/2 387 cases), which was higher than that of the infants (15.1%, 285/1 884 cases), and there was a statistical significance (χ2=157.0, P<0.05). The positive rate of MP in girls was 28.3% (481/1 699 cases), which was significantly higher than that in boys [21.8% (561/2 572 cases)], and there was a statistical significance (χ2=23.4, P<0.05), especially during the epidemic years.@*Conclusions@#The detection rate of MP infection in children in Beijing is high in autumn and winter, and low in summer.The positive rate of MP increases with age.The high incidence of MP infection is in preschool and school-age children, especially girls.There is a significant difference between the prevalence of MP infection and the prevalence intervals.The prevalence of MP infection may be closely related to the long-term closed and semi-closed living habits.