Mycoplasma pneumoniae triggers pneumonia epidemic in autumn and winter in Beijing: a multicentre, population-based epidemiological study between 2015 and 2020

The objective of this paper is to explore the characteristics of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) epidemics in Beijing, China. Patients with acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) were enrolled from 35 sentinel hospitals in Beijing, 2015-2020. Their medical records were reviewed and respiratory specimens were collected for assay for nucleic acids of 24 respiratory pathogens, including MP. The genotypes of MP were analysed using a real-time PCR method. The domain V of 23s rRNA gene was sequenced to identify macrolide-resistant mutations. A total of 41,677 specimens of ARTI patients were included, with an MP positive rate of 6.16%. MP prevalence mainly occurred between August and January, and peaked in October. The increase in the MP detection rate was coincident with the elevation of the reported number of patients with pneumonia in the 35 sentinel hospitals. One or more respiratory pathogens were co-detected in 27.1% of the MP-positive patients. Type 1 MP remained predominant, and the macrolide-resistant rate of MP had exceeded over 90%. A2063G mutation accounted for 99.0% of macrolide-resistant MP infections. MP epidemic in Beijing mainly occurred between August and January with a remarkable high macrolide-resistant rate. MP is one of the important contributors to the pneumonia epidemic in autumn and winter in Beijing.