After 4 days of high fever, a 3-year-old child was diagnosed with "white lungs"! Why is mycoplasma pneumonia so aggressive? How to prevent it?

Recently, the incidence of mycoplasma pneumonia in my country has increased, mostly in children. Pediatric hospitals across the country have been in urgent need of help. Parents holding their children with fever and cough kept saying, "My child has a high fever again and again, and it feels like he is about to cough out his lungs. The medicine doesn't work very well..."

Some kids even develop "white lungs" accidentally!

Image source: Zhejiang TV Educational and Science Video Channel "Niu Video" official Weibo

Recently, "Mycoplasma pneumonia" has become a hot search. What is Mycoplasma pneumonia? Can adults also be infected?

01What exactly is Mycoplasma pneumonia?

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a pathogen that can cause respiratory infections and human mycoplasma pneumonia . It is a type of mycoplasma. Mycoplasma pneumonia is widely present worldwide, and regional epidemics occur approximately every 3 to 7 years. (Community-acquired pneumonia refers to pneumonia acquired outside of a hospital, and also includes inflammatory lesions that appear in the lungs within 48 hours after admission to the hospital.)

According to experts, mycoplasma is a microorganism, neither a bacterium nor a virus, and the pneumonia it causes is completely different from the new coronavirus . Pathogens that cause pneumonia generally have seasonal outbreaks. Mycoplasma pneumonia has been prevalent in some areas of China in the past two years, especially this year, with clusters of outbreaks in a few families or classes, but it is not an infectious disease and is not as contagious as the new coronavirus.

Compared with previous years, mycoplasma pneumonia in my country has become more common at a younger age this year, with some children under 3 years old also falling ill. If related symptoms occur, medical attention should be sought promptly.

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02 How is Mycoplasma pneumonia transmitted?

Mycoplasma infection is mainly transmitted through direct contact and droplet transmission.

The symptoms of children infected with mycoplasma are similar to those of most respiratory diseases, with fever and cough as the main symptoms. The cough is generally severe, and may continue for 1 to 2 weeks after the fever subsides.

Zhao Shunying, deputy director of the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases (Children), said that this year is the epidemic season for mycoplasma. If children have a fever or cough, especially a severe dry cough, they are likely to be infected with mycoplasma.

Experts especially remind parents of young children that when mycoplasma pneumonia is infected, the child's fever may not be serious, but there will be wheezing or difficulty breathing, or a depression in the clavicle, "that is, there is a pit in the clavicle when the child inhales or a stuffy nose when the nose inhales, you should go to the hospital for treatment in time.

03 A positive Mycoplasma pneumoniae test means that you have Mycoplasma pneumonia. Is this true?

In fact, Mycoplasma pneumonia positivity and Mycoplasma pneumonia are two completely different things .

Mycoplasma pneumoniae positivity actually refers to Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody positivity. When mycoplasma infects the human body, the B cells in the immune system will specifically recognize the antigen, proliferate and differentiate into plasma cells, synthesize and secrete a type of globulin with immune function that can specifically bind to the corresponding antigen, namely antibodies (mainly including IgM antibodies and IgG antibodies). When there is no infection, the corresponding antibodies cannot be detected in the body, that is, negative. On the contrary, when the corresponding antibodies are detected, it can be determined as antibody positive.

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Although the name of Mycoplasma pneumoniae contains "pneumonia", it does not mean that pneumonia will occur after infection. As a common pathogen transmitted through the respiratory tract, it can cause upper respiratory tract infections such as pharyngitis and tonsillitis, and may also cause lower respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Some infected people do not have any symptoms.

04 How to prevent it in daily life?

There is currently no vaccine to prevent Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. The most important thing to prevent Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is to develop good personal hygiene habits. Experts remind →

Pay attention to indoor ventilation, try to avoid crowded and poorly ventilated public places, and wear a mask if you must go.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

Keep your hands clean and wash them frequently with soap or hand sanitizer under running water.

Schools, kindergartens and other places should pay attention to ventilation and disinfection to avoid clustered infections.

At the same time, since Mycoplasma pneumoniae has no cell wall, the familiar antibiotics such as penicillin and cephalosporin all target the cell wall and are therefore completely ineffective against Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Macrolide antibiotics, such as roxithromycin and azithromycin, are currently the first choice for the treatment of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

Therefore, if citizens develop fever accompanied by severe cough, they should seek medical attention in a timely manner, find out the cause as soon as possible, and receive standardized treatment. They should avoid taking medication blindly.

Comprehensive sources: CCTV News, People's Daily, etc.