{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T15:11:32Z","timestamp":1787670692884,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,16]],"date-time":"2025-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750032000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":15,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Tianjin Health Science and Technology Project","award":["TJWJ2022QN083"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TJWJ2022QN083"]}]},{"name":"Tianjin Key Medical Discipline(Specialty) Construction Project and the Tianjin Health Science and technology project","award":["TJYXZDXK-040A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TJYXZDXK-040A"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006606","name":"Tianjin Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["21JCYBJC00890"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21JCYBJC00890"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006606","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Tianjin Health Science and Technology Program Key Discipline Special","award":["TJWJ2022XK038"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TJWJ2022XK038"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,19]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and temporal-spatial distribution of <jats:italic>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/jats:italic> (MP) infections among paediatric inpatients with respiratory tract infections in Tianjin, China, across three distinct phases: pre-pandemic (2017\u20132019), pandemic (2020\u20132022) and post-pandemic (2023\u20132024). The primary hypothesis is that the COVID-19 pandemic altered the epidemiology of MP infections in children.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Retrospective, single-centre study.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Secondary care paediatric hospital in a metropolitan area.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>A total of 60\u2009213 paediatric patients hospitalised with respiratory infections between January 2017 and December 2024 were included. The study population consisted of children aged 0\u201318 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.22:1.00. Selection criteria included children admitted with a diagnosis of respiratory infection, while those with incomplete clinical data or non-respiratory infections were excluded.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Primary and secondary outcome measures<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The primary outcome was the overall positive detection rate of MP-RNA. Secondary outcomes included annual and seasonal variations in MP-RNA detection rates, differences by sex and age group, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on MP epidemiology. All statistical methods, including those used to control for confounding, involved the use of \u03c7\u00b2 tests for comparing positive rates between groups.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The overall positive detection rate of MP-RNA among children hospitalised for respiratory infections during the study period was 36.58% (22 023\/60 213). The annual MP-RNA-positive detection rates from 2017 to 2024 were as follows: 50.74% (411\/810) in 2017, 36.28% (1150\/3170) in 2018, 27.41% (1459\/5323) in 2019, 10.18% (222\/2181) in 2020, 11.42% (928\/8129) in 2021, 13.27% (579\/4364) in 2022, 28.97% (3064\/10575) in 2023 and 55.38% (14 210\/25 661) in 2024. The highest annual positivity rate was observed in 2024 (55.38%, 14 210\/25 661), while the lowest rate occurred in 2020 (10.18%, 222\/2181). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in MP-RNA detection rates across different years (\u03c7\u00b2=8331.511, p&lt;0.001). Furthermore, MP-RNA detection rates varied significantly by sex (p&lt;0.001), age group (p&lt;0.001), month (p&lt;0.001) and season (p&lt;0.001) before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered MP epidemiology in Tianjin\u2019s paediatric population, with infection rates demonstrating a U-shaped trajectory across pandemic phases. School-aged children and females exhibited heightened susceptibility. These temporal and demographic patterns emphasise the necessity of incorporating epidemiological surveillance into diagnostic algorithms for childhood respiratory infections, particularly in post-pandemic settings. Future research should focus on multicentre studies to validate these findings and explore the underlying mechanisms.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-101045","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,17]],"date-time":"2025-06-17T06:20:25Z","timestamp":1750141225000},"page":"e101045","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Epidemiological association of the COVID-19 pandemic on <i>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/i> infections in children in Tianjin, China: a single-centre retrospective study (2017\u20132024)"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Wei","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Academy of Medical Engineering & Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China"},{"name":"Precision Medicine Center, Precision Medicine Laboratory, Tianjin Children\u2019s Hospital, Tianjin, 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