Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection prevalence increases again in Osaka
Naoyuki Miyashita, Makoto Ogata, Naoki Fukuda, Akihisa Yamura, Tomoki� Ito
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We investigated the prevalence rate and resistance mechanism of macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae strains between 2018 and 2024. METHODS: We analyzed 367 patients with M. pneumoniae infection by the polymerase chain reaction method. RESULTS: Macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae was identified in nine of 51 patients (17.6 %) in 2018, 13 of 63 patients (20.6 %) in 2019, eight of 30 patients (26.7 %) in 2020, one of three patients in 2021, one of three patients in 2022, three of six patients in 2023, and 127 of 211 patients (60.2 %) in 2024. Prevalence of macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae was significantly increased in 2024 compared to the years 2018-2020 (p < 0.0001). The majority of resistant strains had an A-to-G transition at position 2063 in the M. pneumoniae 23S rRNA domain V gene region, which is associated with high-level resistance to macrolides. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that the prevalence of macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae is once again increasing in Osaka Prefecture.