Increased detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children in England and Wales, October 2011 to January 2012.

Community surveillance data, based on quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, showed that one in seven children aged 5-14 years with respiratory signs tested positive for Mycoplasma pneumoniae in England and Wales from October 2011 to January 2012 - a higher proportion than that seen in previous years. Multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis indicates that at least seven known and two novel strain types were circulating in England and Wales during this period. Recent reports indicate that an increased number of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections have been detected in seven European countries including Denmark, Norway and Finland [1-4]. To determine the number of patients infected with M. pneumoniae in England and Wales and to see if the number had increased, compared with previous winters, community surveillance data and laboratory reports submitted to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) from 10th October (week 42) 2011 to 20th January (week 3) 2012 were reviewed. Our study shows an increase in the number of children with M. pneumoniae infection by PCR-based surveillance in the community during the study period. Further analysis was carried out to determine which strains of M. pneumoniae were present in this period in the community surveillance samples, in addition to analysis of genetic markers for macrolide resistance.