BERLIN, December 1 Spread detected in Germany Mycoplasma pneumonia, mostly children, reports Focus, citing hospital doctors in a number of regions.
According to the publication, reports of cases of mycoplasma pneumonia among children aged 5 to 16 years are coming from “many regions” of the country. “We do see infections caused by mycoplasma, some of them severe,” Focus quotes a pulmonologist at the Altona Children's Clinic in Hamburg.
Symptoms of the disease include a severe cough and narrowing of the airways, and most children and adolescents undergo hospital treatment within seven to ten days. The disease is accompanied by rare complications in the form of inflammation of the mucous membranes.
At the same time, at the moment there is no known severe course of the disease that would require artificial ventilation.
Earlier, the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Harris, said that outbreaks of mycoplasma pneumonia are not considered to have pandemic potential.
In mid-October, representatives of the National Health Commission of China reported an increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases in the country. Chinese authorities attributed the increase to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens, including influenza, mycoplasma pneumonia (a bacterial infection that typically affects young children), respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19. At the end of November, a number of media reported about undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.
The press service of Rospotrebnadzor previously stated that in China there is an increase in the incidence of pneumonia, mainly among children, mainly in Beijing and Liaoning province, as well as influenza, they specified in the press service. The main cause of pneumonia is mycoplasma, an increase in the incidence of which was observed earlier, the department explained. Its incidence is cyclical, with rises occurring every 3-7 years.