Danish disease agency confirms atypical pneumonia epidemic
The Danish infectious disease control agency State Serum Institute (SSI) said on Wednesday that the number of atypical pneumonia cases in now at epidemic level.
SSI issued its statement after a spike in the number of people who have tested positive for pneumonia caused by Mycosplasma pneumoniae.
Atypical pneumonia is defined as is any type of pneumonia not caused by one of the pathogens most commonly associated with the disease.
The number of cases in Denmark is now so high that it can be categorised as an epidemic, SSI said.
The agency’s senior researcher Hanne-Dorthe Emborg said that there are “significantly more cases than normal” and that infections are prevalent across the country.
“Mycoplasma infections come in waves, with the disease affecting groups in the population who have not yet built up immunity,” she said.
“That is why it is also typically a disease seen among school children aged 6-12,” she said in the statement.
The number of cases of the disease has been extremely low in the last four years and is therefore affecting children who typically catch the infection because they have not been exposed to it before, Emborg said.
The most recent epidemic of atypical pneumonia in 2015-2018 saw so many cases that it lasted three seasons in a row.
Denmark normally goes through epidemics of mycoplasma infections every four years.
The disease typically causes influenza-like symptoms such as headache, fatigue, sore throat and long-lasting and dry cough, especially at night.
Many people also develop a fever, although it is rarely as high with regular pneumonia, SSI states in the press release. Normal penicillin cannot be used to treat atypical pneumonia.
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SSI issued its statement after a spike in the number of people who have tested positive for pneumonia caused by Mycosplasma pneumoniae.
Atypical pneumonia is defined as is any type of pneumonia not caused by one of the pathogens most commonly associated with the disease.
The number of cases in Denmark is now so high that it can be categorised as an epidemic, SSI said.
The agency’s senior researcher Hanne-Dorthe Emborg said that there are “significantly more cases than normal” and that infections are prevalent across the country.
“Mycoplasma infections come in waves, with the disease affecting groups in the population who have not yet built up immunity,” she said.
“That is why it is also typically a disease seen among school children aged 6-12,” she said in the statement.
The number of cases of the disease has been extremely low in the last four years and is therefore affecting children who typically catch the infection because they have not been exposed to it before, Emborg said.
The most recent epidemic of atypical pneumonia in 2015-2018 saw so many cases that it lasted three seasons in a row.
Denmark normally goes through epidemics of mycoplasma infections every four years.
The disease typically causes influenza-like symptoms such as headache, fatigue, sore throat and long-lasting and dry cough, especially at night.
Many people also develop a fever, although it is rarely as high with regular pneumonia, SSI states in the press release. Normal penicillin cannot be used to treat atypical pneumonia.
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