The state of São Paulo recorded five cases of bacterial infection that caused an outbreak of pneumonia in China. The diagnoses were reported in a bulletin from the Center for Strategic Information and Health Surveillance Response (Cievs) last Tuesday (26/12). According to the record, five children who attend the same school in Santo André, in Greater São Paulo, tested positive for infection with the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and the outbreak was reported by the father of one of them. The children are 3 and 4 years old, were hospitalized, and survived. Four other students from the same school had flu-like symptoms, but tests did not confirm the illness.
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Mycoplasma pneumonia
The circulation of the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae is not new, but the recent increase in cases caused the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue a warning on 22 November about the proliferation of the bacteria among children in northern China.
The agency highlighted that the pathogen causes outbreaks, mainly in schools, and that epidemics occur more frequently in late summer and autumn, despite the disease not following a seasonal pattern. Cases have also been recorded in countries such as the United States, South Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland.
Factors
Two facts are attributed to the increase in cases of pediatric pneumonia: winter in the Northern Hemisphere causes a rise in respiratory infections. The other concerns the isolation imposed by the Covid pandemic. Children did not have contact with viruses and bacteria and did not develop immunity against them.
Antibiotic Treatment
As it is treatable with antibiotics, experts see no reason for the bacteria’s circulation to cause alarm for now.
Symptoms
The symptoms caused by Mycoplasma pneumonia are similar to those of the flu: runny nose, fever, sore throat, as well as a dry cough. Transmission occurs through the airways, through droplets in the air when talking, sneezing, or coughing.
Source: Folha UOL
