With autumn comes the cold season and more and more people are catching infections. However, one particular disease worries experts: pneumonia, which is caused by so-called mycoplasma. What makes this form of infection so dangerous?

The special thing about mycoplasma is that the bacterium has no cell wall. An antibiotic would normally attack there – so the medication does not work. It requires special antibiotics to get rid of the bacteria. In this case, experts speak of atypical pneumonia, also because pneumonia caused by mycoplasma has so far only occurred rarely.

Atypical pneumonia: More and more diseases caused by mycoplasma

The Clinical Virology Network, which collects data on infectious diseases across Germany, has been recording a significant increase for some time. The “Mycoplasma pneumoniae” counted again in August among the most active pathogens. This is also confirmed by biologist Roger Dumke, head of the consulting laboratory of the Robert Koch Institute for Mycoplasma at the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Virology at the University Hospital of Dresden. “There has actually been a massive increase in mycoplasma pneumonia recently that has never been observed before,” says Dumke in an interview with the Pharmacy look around.

The tricky thing about the disease are the symptoms. While those affected by typical pneumonia suffer from high fever, chills and a severe cough after a short time, the infection with mycoplasma appears more gradually. The first symptoms of atypical pneumonia are as follows:

• dry cough, dry cough
• Sniffles
• Headache
• mild to moderate fever
• “Crackling” sound when inhaling and exhaling

Since these signs can also be caused by other diseases, mycoplasma pneumonia is often not recognized immediately. Only a laboratory test, for which a swab is taken from the throat, can provide certainty. “But there are also some children who carry mycoplasma in their throat without causing any symptoms or illness. This of course makes the diagnosis even more difficult,” says Nicole Töpfner, pediatrician and deputy chairwoman of the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI ), the Pharmacy look around.

Mycoplasma pneumonia mainly affects children – what is the cause?

Even if the course is mild, the disease can last for several weeks if those affected are not treated. Mycoplasma pneumonia can even be really dangerous for older people or people with weakened immune systems. However, according to experts, the majority of cases of infection affect children and young people. The following applies to parents: If a child has a fever or a cough for more than a few days, they should see a doctor. When treated with the right antibiotics, noticeable improvement occurs after just one week.

The sudden wave of infections caused by mycoplasma has also caught the eye of scientists. In an article in the trade journal “The Lancet“Researchers from France and Switzerland write about an increase in the disease since 2023. Comparable infectious diseases returned significantly more quickly after the end of the Corona measures. Possible reasons for this are the long incubation period (symptoms only appear up to 3 weeks after infection) and the low transmission rate.

Experts now fear that herd immunity has decreased due to the long absence of mycoplasma infection. The lack of contact with the bacterium in recent years can lead to more severe courses of the disease. The infection could also spread outside the lungs. Various networks such as the Clinical Virology Network or the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases therefore want to continue monitoring the occurrence of the disease. In this way, waves of disease should be detected early and appropriate measures taken. In Germany, mycoplasma pneumonia is not yet a reportable disease in 15 of 16 federal states.