Analysis of antibody detection data of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in a hospital in Beijing City from 2017 to 2024

The positive rate of MP antibodies increased with age from 0 to 12 years old but gradually decreased after 12 to <18 years old (P trend<0.01). The annual MP antibody positivity rates from 2017 to 2023 were 26.92%, 29.23%, 27.46%, 18.43%, 17.16%, 11.89%, and 23.72%, respectively, with statistically significant differences among the years (χ² = 387.519, P < 0.01). The combined positivity rate was highest in the autumn season (χ² = 242.560, P < 0.01).

The positive rates of MP antibodies before the epidemic (2017-2019), during the epidemic (2020-2022), and after the epidemic (2023-2024) were 28.00%, 16.60%, and 21.84%, respectively, with statistically significant differences among the three periods(χ²=295.845, P<0.01).The monthly positive rate of MP fluctuated significantly in different years (5.63% to 43.11%). In the MP antibody titer, qualitative testing was conducted on 4,563 patients and 16,076 patients had a semi-quantitative MP antibody titer of ≥1:160 with a positive rate of 16.03%.

Among the proportion of children with high titers of MP antibodies ≥1:1,280 was 11.11%. Conclusion  The positive rate of MP antibodies in Peking University Third Hospital varies by gender, age, and season. The infection shows periodic epidemic changes with a peak in autumn, mainly affecting children and adolescents.