Epidemiology and Molecular Identification and Characterization of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, South Africa, 2012-2015

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 506 - 513
• Main Authors: Carrim, Maimuna, Wolter, Nicole, Benitez, Alvaro J, Tempia, Stefano, du Plessis, Mignon, Walaza, Sibongile, Moosa, Fahima, Diaz, Maureen H, Wolff, Bernard J, Treurnicht, Florette K, Hellferscee, Orienka, Dawood, Halima, Variava, Ebrahim, Cohen, Cheryl, Winchell, Jonas M, von Gottberg, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.03.2018; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; Community-Acquired Infections - epidemiology; Community-Acquired Infections - history; Community-Acquired Infections - microbiology; community-acquired pneumonia; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Epidemiology; Epidemiology and Molecular Identification and Characterization of; Female; Genotype; History, 21st Century; HIV infections; Hospitalization; Humans; Infant; influenza-like illness; Male; Middle Aged; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Mycoplasma pneumoniae - classification; Mycoplasma pneumoniae - genetics; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma - history; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma - microbiology; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; real-time PCR; Risk Factors; severe respiratory illness; South Africa; South Africa - epidemiology; South Africa, 2012–2015; Young Adult; South Africa; Germany; bacteria; antimicrobial resistance; severe respiratory illness; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; South Africa; macrolide susceptibility; molecular characterization; real-time PCR; bacterial infection; community-acquired pneumonia; influenza-like illness; respiratory infections
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid2403.162052

During 2012-2015, we tested respiratory specimens from patients with severe respiratory illness (SRI), patients with influenza-like illness (ILI), and controls in South Africa by real-time PCR for Mycoplasma pneumoniae, followed by culture and molecular characterization of positive samples. M. pneumoniae prevalence was 1.6% among SRI patients, 0.7% among ILI patients, and 0.2% among controls (p<0.001). Age <5 years (adjusted odd ratio 7.1; 95% CI 1.7-28.7) and HIV infection (adjusted odds ratio 23.8; 95% CI 4.1-138.2) among M. pneumonia-positive persons were associated with severe disease. The detection rate attributable to illness was 93.9% (95% CI 74.4%-98.5%) in SRI patients and 80.7% (95% CI 16.7%-95.6%) in ILI patients. The hospitalization rate was 28 cases/100,000 population. We observed the macrolide-susceptible M. pneumoniae genotype in all cases and found P1 types 1, 2, and a type 2 variant with multilocus variable number tandem repeat types 3/6/6/2, 3/5/6/2, and 4/5/7/2.