Seasonal changes in mycoplasma pneumonia and a review of influencing factors of pediatric respiratory diseases

Abstract

Objective: To identify factors influencing mycoplasma pneumonia and respiratory diseases as a function of yearly seasons. Methods: Records of respiratory disease cases, as obtained from the respiratory laboratory of the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University over the period from November 2013 to October 2018, were retrospectively analyzed. Susceptible factors, as related to the general data from mycoplasma pneumonia cases, included season of the year along with the age and gender of the patients. Results: Statistically significant differences in mycoplasma pneumonia were obtained among the different seasons (χ2 = 496.24, P ＜ 0.05), ages (P ＜ 0.05) and gender (χ2 = 300.10, P ＜ 0.05). The rate and number of mycoplasma pneumonia cases were highest in the winter and lowest in the summer, with the difference between these two seasons being statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05). Among confirmed positive cases, infection rates of mycoplasma pneumonia in young and middle-aged patients were significantly greater than that in the elderly (P ＜ 0.05) and the incidence in women was significantly greater than that in men (χ2 = 300.10, P ＜ 0.05). Among the total of all lung diseases sampled, the largest numbers were observed in pediatric cases and the peak period of disease occurrence was over the period from October to January. Conclusion: The incidence of pneumonia shows significant differences as a function of the season of the year, effects which are observed in all ages.