It can be overcome on foot, but it also permanently damages the lungs
Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Ireland reported a sharp increase in children of mycoplasma pneumonia, which slipped into China in the fall.
The number of infected people is also high in the American state of Ohio, CNN reported.
Caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, this disease flares up every two to three years. During the covid pandemic, there was no real wave of the disease, and the spread this year does not surprise experts, who explain it by the lifting of quarantine.
“Certainly, mycoplasma infections in Europe and the United States this winter will be more aggressive than other years,” said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.
Already at the beginning of the year, European experts monitoring 45 regions in 24 countries for mycoplasma reported that cases, which fell below 1% during the pandemic, had started to rise again. By autumn, the increase was more than four times, with the most cases in Asia and Europe, writes the magazine “Lancet”.
“We see periodic outbreaks like this every few years, especially in elementary and junior high school kids,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, director of the Texas Hospital Vaccine Development Center.
Resistance to the type of antibiotics used to treat this infection may be among the reasons for the increase in cases, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Mycoplasma infection
spread rapidly in
areas such as schools, campuses
and nursing homes
When an infected person coughs and sneezes, he releases aerosols – tiny sprays from the nose and mouth containing Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and bystanders can easily inhale the bacteria. Therefore, outbreaks of the disease flare up very quickly.
Mycoplasma is more common in children between the ages of 5 and 12 than in adults. But while it’s an enigma to many parents, it’s no mystery to doctors. The bacterium causes mild, atypical or even “walking” pneumonia, which can also be spread on foot, they explain.
However, it is possible for the cough to last for weeks, a mild fever, headache and a spotty rash on the body, back, hands, appear, reports CNN.
Among the possible symptoms
are fatigue, wheezing at
breathing, chest pain
and stomach, vomiting
In most cases, the disease passes without complications through treatment with antibiotics. They are prescribed after diagnosis for a period of 7 to 10 days.
It is important to know that the antibiotics that treat most types of pneumonia do not work for mycoplasma infection, warns CNN. For her, doctors prescribe a different type – usually azithromycin.
“With antibiotic therapy after the first few days, there is usually an improvement. Otherwise, parents should again consult the pediatrician and change the treatment,” says Dr. Creech.
Antibiotic resistance is a serious part of the problem. It occurs when the drugs cannot effectively treat the bacterial infection and do not destroy the pathogen against which they were designed. The problem is particularly worrisome in Asia, where resistance levels to the macrolide used to treat mycoplasma are as high as 90 percent.
Mycoplasma pneumonia usually clears up within 2 weeks. But some infections can take up to 6 weeks to clear up completely. Long-term, or chronic, mycoplasma is rare but can cause permanent lung damage. If symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks, be sure to seek medical attention.
2023-12-09 19:45:00
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