Association of mortality and recent Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in COVID-19 patients.

ABSTRACT

To compare characteristics and outcomes of patients who had COVID-19 with Mycoplasma pneumoniae immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to those without M. pneumoniae antibodies. We retrospectively reviewed cases admitted over a 4-week period between 17 March 2020 and 14 April 2020 to the Hoboken University Medical Center, NJ, USA. We compared the outcomes of COVID-19 patients who were positive for M. pneumoniae IgM with those who were negative for M. pneumoniae IgM. The primary outcome was mortality. The adjusted odds ratio was calculated after controlling for baseline differences. Of 139 patients admitted with COVID-19, 79 were positive for M. pneumoniae IgM. The mortality among those who were M. pneumoniae IgM positive was significantly higher (adjusted odds ratio 2.28, 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 5.03) compared with those who were M. pneumoniae IgM negative. Patients with coinfection (COVID-19 and mycoplasma) have higher mortality compared with patients with just COVID-19 disease.