Open AccessPrevalence and clinical characteristics of septicemia in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia
Author(s) -
Li Liu,
Shobha Maharjan,
Jialiang Sun,
Yanchun Li,
Huanji Cheng
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of international medical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1473-2300
pISSN - 0300-0605
DOI - 10.1177/03000605211021733
Subject(s) - medicine , mycoplasma pneumoniae , pneumonia , mycoplasma pneumonia , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , outpatient clinic , mycoplasma , immunology , gastroenterology , pediatrics , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , in vitro , biology , chemistry
Background Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia in children can be challenging to treat, and the impact of MP blood infection is unclear. The present study aims to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of MP septicemia among pediatric patients.Methods Children hospitalized at our center for MP pneumonia between October 2017 and June 2018 were included. Healthy controls visiting our outpatient clinic for regular physical examinations were also enrolled. MP was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis of plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples.Results Sixty-one children with MP pneumonia and 30 healthy children were included. Among children with MP infection, 31 (50.8%) were positive for MP by qPCR (19 in plasma samples, 8 in PBMC samples, and 4 in both). All healthy controls were negative for MP by qPCR.Conclusions The prevalence of MP septicemia in children with MP pneumonia is moderate. However, detection of MP in blood samples may have limited clinical value for guiding treatment.