Epidemiological and clinical analysis of community-acquired Mycoplasma pneumonia in children from a Spanish population, 2010-2015

Abstract

Introduction and objectives: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is one of the most common etiological agents of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children. We aimed to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics, treatment and outcome of children diagnosed with community-acquired MP pneumonia (CAMP) in a tertiary hospital in Valencia, Spain. Material and methods: Medical records of children <14 years with CAMP were retrospectively reviewed from January 2010 to December 2015. Patients with radiological evidence of pneumonia and microbiological confirmation of MP (PCR from nasopharyngeal swab and/or serum specific IgM) were considered CAMP. Results: One hundred and sixty two children were diagnosed with CAMP; median age 6 years (IQR: 4-9). The positive MP test rate among children with CAP progressively increased with age as did the empirical use of macrolides. There were two peaks of cases in 2011 and in 2015, being July, August, November and December the seasons with the higher number of cases. The most frequent radiological pattern was segmental infiltrate (62.3%) and 22 (13.6%) children had pleural effusion. It was noteworthy the mild symptomatology and low levels of inflammatory parameters that children with CAMP had. A macrolide was empirically initiated in 68.5% of cases. Hospital admission rate was inversely proportional to patient's age. Conclusions: According to this study, older, less symptomatic patients and with lower inflammatory parameters had the greatest rate of MP infection among children with CAP and thus they could benefit of empiric macrolide therapy. Therefore, knowing the epidemiology of a geographical area may be important for the management of CAP in children.