Detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in hospitalized pediatric patients presenting with acute lower respiratory tract infections utilizing targeted next-generation sequencing.

BACKGROUND

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a prevalent pathogen in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia. Currently, limited literature exists on the clinical utilization of pathogen-targeted sequencing technologies.

METHODS

Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) technology was employed to analyze bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from 1,070 hospitalized pediatric patients with acute lower respiratory tract infections. Subsequently, the clinical data of children diagnosed with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia were systematically evaluated.

RESULTS

tNGS identified pathogenic infections in 1,064 (99.4%) of these patients, with M. pneumoniae infections representing 56.9% of the cases. Of these with M. pneumoniae cases, 169 patients (27.75%, 169/609) had infections solely due to with M. pneumoniae, while 440 patients (72.25%, 440/609) presented with co-infections involving M. pneumoniae and additional microorganisms. Among the co-infections, Rhinovirus was the most frequent co-infecting pathogen (120/609), followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (91/609), human respiratory syncytial virus (78/609) and human parainfluenza virus (74/609). Among the 609 children identified M. pneumoniae infection, 274 were found to harbor macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae (MRMP), yielding a resistance rate of 45.0% (274/609). In children with M. pneumoniae infection, pleural effusion and respiratory failure emerged as the most prevalent respiratory complications, while hepatic impairment and myocardial impairment were the predominant complications of other systems. The median duration of hospitalization for the children diagnosed with M. pneumoniae infection was 7 days. Out of 609 children with M. pneumoniae infection, 10 cases required intensive care unit (ICU) admission, accounting for 1.64% of the total.

CONCLUSION

tNGS technology exhibits substantial clinical utility in identifying pathogens associated with respiratory tract infections. This study delineates the clinical manifestations and co-infection patterns of M. pneumoniae in Guangxi, China.