The epidemic characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection among children in Anhui, China, 2015–2023

ABSTRACT The number of pediatric respiratory tract infection cases in China has significantly increased this year, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the main pathogens. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of M. pneumoniae in children in the Anhui region and to provide evidence for the prevention and control strategies of M. pneumoniae in children in this region. A total of 66,488 pediatric patients with respiratory tract infection were enrolled from January 2015 to November 2023 in this study. The results of this study exhibited that M. pneumoniae infection in the Anhui region was characterized by a high positive rate during 2021–2023, especially this year is considered a year of pandemic for M. pneumoniae infection. Moreover, the positive rate of M. pneumoniae in female children is significantly higher than in male children, and the infection rate of M. pneumoniae in children increases significantly with age, particularly in school-aged children.IMPORTANCEThe number of pediatric respiratory tract infection cases in China has significantly increased this year, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the main pathogens. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of M. pneumoniae in children in the Anhui region and provide evidence for the prevention and control strategies of M. pneumoniae in children in this region.