Clinical Features of Long COVID Patients Coinfected With Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Abstract

Background: Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many patients have suffered prolonged complications, called "long COVID." Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common respiratory pathogen. Reports of simultaneous long COVID and M. pneumoniae infections are rare in the literature. Methods: We analyzed the clinical data of patients with long COVID-19 who visited the Respiratory Clinic of The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University between January 1 and January 31, 2023, together with their laboratory and radiographic findings, with Pearson's χ ² test. Results: Fifty-two patients diagnosed with both long COVID and M. pneumoniae infection and 77 with long COVID only were compared. The ages, clinical symptoms, and comorbidities of the two groups did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). However, sex and imaging findings differed between the groups. Conclusions: Our study showed that long COVID-M. pneumoniae coinfection was more commonly seen in females and patients with typical chest computed tomography (CT) images.