Meteorological associations and clinical severity of pediatric Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia hospitalizations at referral hospitals in climatically diverse regions of China, 2015–2025
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia exhibits seasonal and geographic variability, but meteorological influences on pediatric hospitalization patterns across different climatic regions remain uncertain. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study of 21,763 children aged < 18 years hospitalized with MP pneumonia at referral hospitals in five Chinese provinces in 2015–2025. Daily admissions were linked with ERA5 temperature and relative humidity. Province-specific distributed lag non-linear models, adjusted for trend, school vacations, holidays and the COVID-19 pandemic period, were pooled by meta-analysis and tested with negative-control exposures, case-crossover and false-discovery-rate analyses; mixed-effects models assessed severe disease. The median age was 4.1 years and 55.0% were male. Admissions peaked in October–December, with seasonality differing by province. Severe disease occurred in 17.4% (5.7–24.7% across four provinces), was most frequent at ≥6 years and increased after the pandemic (adjusted odds ratio 2.75, 95% CI 2.44–3.11). Pooled temperature and humidity associations were null in the main analysis and all robustness checks, and no province-specific association passed all checks. Severity of pediatric MP pneumonia increased substantially after the pandemic and was highest in school-aged children, whereas short-term weather showed no consistent effect once seasonal confounding was addressed. Surveillance should prioritize post-pandemic clinical changes over weather-based prediction.
Source: Figshare
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225578420