{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T12:26:00Z","timestamp":1787660760377,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,16]],"date-time":"2025-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757980800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      (\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      ) is a leading pathogen of pediatric pneumonia, yet its epidemiological profile in Chengdu remains understudied. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiological trends of\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibody positive rates among children in Chengdu from 2017 to 2024, encompassing periods before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and to assess associated changes in respiratory disease patterns.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We retrospectively analyzed clinical diagnoses and\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibody test results from 222,364 children with respiratory infections treated in the emergency, outpatient, and inpatient departments of Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital (January 2017\u2013December 2024). Local temperature and humidity data were concurrently collected. Epidemiological trends in\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibody positive rates were evaluated by year, sex, age, season, and climate parameters, alongside shifts in respiratory disease composition among\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      -positive children.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibody positive rates exhibited an overall upward trend, with three epidemic peaks (2017, 2019, and 2023\u20132024) and a notable decline during the pandemic. Females showed higher susceptibility than males. Outpatients aged 3\u20136 years and inpatients aged 0\u20133 years were most vulnerable pre-pandemic; however, post-pandemic,\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibody positive rates increased with age (0\u20136 years). Seasonal peaks typically occurred in autumn, but during the mid-to-late pandemic, winter-autumn alternation was observed. Early-pandemic humidity positively correlated with\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      antibody positive rates. Post-pandemic, asthma replaced post-infection cough as the third most common outpatient diagnosis, while inpatient diagnoses were dominated by pneumonia and severe pneumonia, the latter showing a significant rise in proportion.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Following the COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial increase of\n                      <jats:italic>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      (\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      ) antibody positive rates was observed among pediatric populations in Chengdu beginning in 2023. This study presents a descriptive analysis of serum antibody detection results, offering baseline epidemiological data to inform prevention and control strategies for\n                      <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>\n                      infections among children in the Chengdu region.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2025.1649615","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,16]],"date-time":"2025-09-16T05:35:31Z","timestamp":1758000931000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Positive rates of Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibodies in children before, during and after COVID-19 outbreak: an observational study in Chengdu, China from 2017 to 2024"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Luoman","family":"Yan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hao","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haiyan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zixi","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meimei","family":"Lai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1213","DOI":"10.1007\/s10096-024-04824-9","article-title":"Comparison of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children admitted with community acquired pneumonia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study at a tertiary hospital of southwest China","volume":"43","author":"Ai","year":"2024","journal-title":"Eur. 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