Infections of mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) have peaked across China in recent days with local hospitals in some places seeing an increasing number of infected children and young people. Experts attribute the rise to declining immunity levels due to preventive measures against respiratory disease transmission, as well as and excessive use of antibiotics.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a kind of prokaryotic pathogen with no cell wall. It occupies a structural position between viruses and bacteria, lacking a cell wall which bacteria have but with a more complex structure compared with viruses and is evolutionarily more advanced than viruses, The Paper reported on Monday.
According to medical experts, symptoms caused by MPP vary greatly between different individuals. Some people can be asymptomatic or present with only upper respiratory symptoms. Lower respiratory symptoms may also occur to some people, and there can be extrapulmonary manifestations such as myocardial, hepatic and neurological damage, according to media reports. There also exist individual reports of death caused by some cases of MPP.
Infections with mycoplasma pneumoniae can occur throughout the year. In Beijing, mycoplasma pneumoniae infections are more prevalent from August to December each year, typically peaking around November. Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control warned about the disease last Thursday, stating that mycoplasma pneumoniae is one of the main pathogens leading to the high incidence of pneumonia in the autumn and winter seasons in the capital city.
