Epidemiological characteristics of respiratory tract infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae in a hospital in Hangzhou, China: A cross-sectional study

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), a major pathogen that causes respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in humans, represents a predominant form of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) especially in children. The high infection rate and Macrolides resistance (MR) rate in China poses a significant threat to the public health. We retrospectively analyzed data of individuals from July 2018 to August 2024 who visited Hangzhou Ninth People`s Hospital due to RTIs and did a fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) test for MP. A total of 25,980 individuals were included, among which 6020 (23.17%) were infected with MP. MP infections were more prevalent in late summer and autumn, with the most in October (1022), followed by November (995). The infection number dropped significantly in winter and spring, with the least in March (170), followed by February (192) and April (192). The infections in both the pre-COVID-19 pandemic year (2019) and post-COVID-19 pandemic year (2023) were much higher than the years during COVID-19 pandemic (2020, 2021, 2022). Non-pharmaceutical interventions significantly impact the spread of MP. MP infection mainly infected preschool and lower grade school aged children.1 to 5 and 6 to 10 years children accounted for the most MP cases, with 2177 and 2751 cases respectively. Considering MRMP, the results showed a positive rate of 77.66%, with the highest in 4 to 18 years children (81.07%) and lowest in <1 year old children (60.00%). There was no significant difference in neither MP positive rate nor MRMP positive rate between male and female.