Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common respiratory pathogen that causes upper and lower respiratory tract infections in all age groups. Infections are most common in children and young adults, where clinical symptoms range from mild symptoms to the development of atypical pneumonia. Treatment usually involves macrolide antibiotics due to their low toxicity, low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values, and low risk of contraindications in children. M. pneumoniae infections occur endemically and epidemically worldwide. In recent years, the number of infections with macrolide-resistant strains of M. pneumoniae has increased significantly. The proportion of resistant strains is currently highest in Asia, where 80% to 100% of strains are resistant, the number of cases is also increasing in Europe and America. Before 2016, the proportion of rmacrolide resistant M. pneumoniae in Slovenia was less than 1%. In our study, we included 622 DNA isolates from patients collected between 2016 and 2022 with confirmed M. pneumoniae infection. Using real-time PCR and melting curve analysis, we detected 7 (1,01 %) macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae strains. Resistance to macrolides was confirmed by sequencing the 23S rRNA gene. Sequencing was successful for three isolates (43 %) in which a mutation was found at position A2058G in the V domain of the 23S rRNA gene.
|