AKIPRESS.COM - China, Denmark, France and the Netherlands have all recently reported an increase in cases of pneumonia in children linked to a bacteria called Mycoplasma pneumoniae. A spike in cases has also been reported in one county in Ohio, USA, CNN reports.

There's no sign of any widespread or pronounced increase in Mycoplasma infections in other places in the United States, but this bacteria tends to cause pneumonia outbreaks every one to three years. The US hasn't had a real wave of it since before the Covid-19 pandemic, and experts say they would not be surprised if there was an increase this year.

Periodic epidemics occur every few years, especially among children aged from 5 to 12. The difficulty of treatment is that Mycoplasma is resistant to some antibiotics.

Last week, European experts conducting surveillance for Mycoplasma at 45 sites in 24 countries reported that the incidence of cases, which fell to less than 1% during the pandemic, had started to rise again at the beginning of the year. By this summer and fall, there was an average increase of more than fourfold, with larger increases in Asia and Europe, according to a report published in The Lancet Microbe.

Mycroplasma causes damage to lungs and the pleura. The symptoms include a cough that may linger for weeks, typically with a fever and headache, and often a splotchy rash on the trunk, back or arms.

It was earlier reported that children's hospitals are overcrowded in China. There was also an outbreak of pneumonia there. After a request from WHO, the country's authorities reported that the disease is not caused by a new and previously unknown virus, but by ordinary seasonal bacteria.