Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, 11 countries in Europe and Israel, 2011 to 2016

• Published in: Euro surveillance : bulletin européen sur les maladies transmissibles Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 39 - 13
• Main Authors: Beeton, Michael L, Zhang, Xu-Sheng, Uldum, Søren A, Bébéar, Cécile, Dumke, Roger, Gullsby, Karolina, Ieven, Margareta, Loens, Katherine, Nir-Paz, Ran, Pereyre, Sabine, Spiller, O Brad, Chalker, Victoria J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sweden Centre Europeen pour la Surveillance Epidemiologique du SIDA (European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS) 2020; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
• Subjects: Age Distribution; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Community-Acquired Infections - diagnosis; Community-Acquired Infections - epidemiology; Community-Acquired Infections - microbiology; Drug Resistance, Bacterial - drug effects; Electronic Mail; Epidemics; Europe - epidemiology; Female; Humans; Israel - epidemiology; Life Sciences; Macrolides - pharmacology; Medical diagnosis; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Mycoplasma pneumoniae - drug effects; Mycoplasma pneumoniae - isolation & purification; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; Pneumonia; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma - drug therapy; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Europe; Israel; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; epidemiology; diagnostics; surveillance
• ISSN: 1560-7917; 1025-496X; 1560-7917; 1025-496X
• DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.2.1900112

Background is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia, with large epidemics previously described to occur every 4 to 7 years.AimTo better understand the diagnostic methods used to detect . ; to better understand testing and surveillance in use; to identify epidemics; to determine detection number per age group, age demographics for positive detections, concurrence of epidemics and annual peaks across geographical areas; and to determine the effect of geographical location on the timing of epidemics.MethodsA questionnaire was sent in May 2016 to experts with national or regional responsibility within the ESCMID Study Group for Mycoplasma and Chlamydia Infections in 17 countries across Europe and Israel, retrospectively requesting details on positive samples from January 2011 to April 2016. The Moving Epidemic Method was used to determine epidemic periods and effect of country latitude across the countries for the five periods under investigation.ResultsRepresentatives from 12 countries provided data on infections, accounting for 95,666 positive samples. Two laboratories initiated routine macrolide resistance testing since 2013. Between 2011 and 2016, three epidemics were identified: 2011/12, 2014/15 and 2015/16. The distribution of patient ages for positive samples showed three patterns. During epidemic years, an association between country latitude and calendar week when epidemic periods began was noted.ConclusionsAn association between epidemics and latitude was observed. Differences were noted in the age distribution of positive cases and detection methods used and practice. A lack of macrolide resistance monitoring was noted.