Mycoplasma infections are becoming more drug resistant, doctors say, adding that there could be a major outbreak this year.
Mycoplasma can spread through contact with the saliva or mucus of an infected person, with the typical age of onset being five to 15 years.
Infections are more prevalent during the transition period from spring to summer or in the fall, and common symptoms include respiratory tract infection, pneumonia and persistent coughing with phlegm.
Former minister of health and welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延), chairman of the National Health Research Institutes’ board of directors, on Sunday said that symptoms of pneumonia caused by mycoplasma infections tended to be mild.
However, this year, several cases have led to pleural effusion and proved to be resistant to treatment by the antibiotic erythromycin, he said.
Previously, only about 14 percent of cases were drug resistant, but the percentage has risen to 70 percent, he added.
A doctor specializing in infectious disease confirmed that two types of mycoplasma bacteria with erythromycin resistance have been spreading this year, Lin said.
Erythromycin-resistant mycoplasma has also been detected outside of Taiwan, he said.
The percentage of mycoplasma infections in Japan with erythromycin resistance had risen to more than 80 percent from about 5 percent in the past, he said, adding that the situation only improved after patients were given a different antibiotic.
In South Korea, the figure is about 80 percent and up to 90 percent of mycoplasma infections in China are drug-resistant, he said.
Taipei’s Cathay General Hospital has reported that a case of mycoplasma infection in a five-year-old girl led to high fever, a severe cough and pleural effusion.
Even with hospital admission and antibiotic treatment, she did not fully recover until three weeks later, the hospital said.
Mycoplasma drug resistance has been a problem for many years, an infectious disease specialist said.
A large outbreak of mycoplasma infection occurs about once every three to five years, the specialist said, adding that an outbreak could occur this year.
The specialist estimated that medical centers might be seeing at least twice as many patients with mycoplasma infections this year compared with last year.
While most mycoplasma infections typically resolve with treatment, a small number of infections could lead to serious complications, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
A major reason bacteria develop resistance to drugs is because of the overuse of oral antibiotics.
The CDC is closely following the trend of mycoplasma drug resistance, and would discuss a strategy with pediatric infectious disease experts to raise awareness about the importance of using antibiotics reasonably and to work with the National Health Insurance Administration to control antibiotic abuse, he said.
Children with a cough and fever that does not go away should be taken to a hospital as soon as possible to avoid a delay in treatment, Lin said.
Doctors, on the other hand, should be wary of overprescribing erythromycin, especially for coughs or asthma, he said.
If erythromycin fails to improve symptoms of mycoplasma infections within three days, doctors should consider prescribing a different antibiotic, he added.
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