Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciencesgrid.413618.9, New Delhi, India.
Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciencesgrid.413618.9, New Delhi, India.
Microbiol Spectr. 2022 Aug 31;10(4):e0158922. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01589-22. Epub 2022 Jul 14.
The epidemiology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) is poorly understood in India. The present study was conducted to identify the prevalence of Mp in a large set of patients with acute respiratory tract infections (ARI) in an Indian tertiary hospital. During 2015-2020, we tested throat swab specimens from patients with the clinical diagnosis of ARI ( = 1,098) by a real-time PCR and compared the demographic, clinical, laboratory, and outcome data of Mp-positive and Mp-negative patients. During the study period, 5% (55/1,098) of the tested samples were positive for Mp by PCR. School-aged children and young adults represented 36% (20/55) of the cases and 47.3% (26/55) of the cases were registered during the summer and monsoon. Among the Mp-positive patients, 61.8% (34/55) had underlying conditions; the most common were malignancy ( = 12; 21.8%) and hypertension ( = 6; 10.9%). Fever (98.2% versus 84.9%; = 0.006), and pharyngitis (27.3% versus 16.3%; = 0.034) were significantly common in the Mp-positive group than Mp-negative group. Among the Mp-positive group, 20% (11/55) of patients were admitted to an intensive care unit and a total of 7/55 (12.7%) patients received ventilatory support. The mortality in the Mp-positive cohort was 13.3%. The study provides baseline data regarding Mp prevalence and clinical characteristics. The application of molecular assays for diagnosing this pathogen among hospitalized patients with ARI could reduce inappropriate empirical antibiotic treatment and improve patient outcomes. Further large-scale studies are required to avoid the underdiagnosis of Mp infections in India and such studies should address some research gaps, such as macrolide resistance and molecular typing. M. pneumoniae (Mp) is a significant pathogen causing atypical pneumonia but by far these infections are underreported clinical entities in India. In the present study, we report the prevalence of Mp and describe the demographic and baseline clinical data of Mp-positive cases in an Indian tertiary care hospital. Our study may improve the clinician's awareness of this important agent of respiratory infection therefore timely and accurate diagnostic tools can be applied for patient management decisions and outcomes.
在印度，肺炎支原体（Mp）的流行病学情况了解甚少。本研究旨在确定印度一家三级医院大量急性呼吸道感染（ARI）患者中肺炎支原体的流行情况。2015 年至 2020 年期间，我们通过实时 PCR 检测了临床诊断为 ARI 的患者（ = 1098）的咽拭子标本，并比较了肺炎支原体阳性和阴性患者的人口统计学、临床、实验室和结局数据。研究期间，5%（55/1098）的检测样本通过 PCR 检测呈肺炎支原体阳性。学龄儿童和青年分别占病例的 36%（20/55），47.3%（26/55）的病例发生在夏季和雨季。在肺炎支原体阳性患者中，61.8%（34/55）有基础疾病；最常见的是恶性肿瘤（ = 12；21.8%）和高血压（ = 6；10.9%）。与肺炎支原体阴性组相比，肺炎支原体阳性组发热（98.2%比 84.9%； = 0.006）和咽炎（27.3%比 16.3%； = 0.034）更为常见。在肺炎支原体阳性组中，20%（11/55）的患者入住重症监护病房，共有 7/55（12.7%）的患者接受了呼吸机支持。肺炎支原体阳性组的死亡率为 13.3%。该研究提供了肺炎支原体流行率和临床特征的基线数据。在因 ARI 住院的患者中应用分子检测来诊断这种病原体，可以减少不适当的经验性抗生素治疗，并改善患者结局。需要开展进一步的大规模研究，以避免印度对肺炎支原体感染的漏诊，并且此类研究应解决一些研究空白，如大环内酯类药物耐药性和分子分型。 肺炎支原体（Mp）是一种引起非典型肺炎的重要病原体，但迄今为止，在印度，这些感染都是报道较少的临床实体。在本研究中，我们报告了肺炎支原体的流行情况，并描述了印度一家三级医院肺炎支原体阳性病例的人口统计学和基线临床数据。我们的研究可以提高临床医生对这种重要呼吸道感染病原体的认识，因此可以应用及时和准确的诊断工具来做出患者管理决策和改善结局。
