@article {gordon_clinical_2019,
	title = {The Clinical Presentation of Pediatric Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infections{\textemdash}A Single Center Cohort},
	journal = {The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal},
	volume = {Online First},
	year = {2019},
	abstract = {Background:~Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is a major cause of community-acquired upper and lower respiratory infections in school-age children; however, there is increasing recognition that younger children are also affected. Clinical manifestations vary from asymptomatic, to severe complicated pneumonia sometimes with extrapulmonary manifestations. Methods:~We reviewed the medical records of all MP positive pediatric patients admitted to the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center. MP positive case was defined if MP polymerase chain reaction was positive from an oropharyngeal swab sent from 2007 to 2017. Results:~During the study period, we identified 353 MP positive pediatric cases, of which 51.3\% (181 out of 353) were younger than 6 years old. Full clinical data were available for 332 of 353 (94\%). The median age was 5.7 years (range, 3 weeks to 18 years). Disease presentation differed between younger and older children. Children older than 6 years were more likely to have chest x-ray{\textendash}confirmed pneumonia (66\% vs. 52\%; P = 0.009), while younger children were more likely to have other respiratory manifestations (37\% vs. 25\%; P = 0.017). The duration of hospitalization and pediatric intensive care unit admission rate, however, did not differ between age groups. The rate of extrapulmonary manifestations were also similar. Conclusions:~MP-associated infection is a significant cause of hospitalization in the pediatric population including younger children (<6 years old). However, the clinical presentation in younger age is less typical than is thought. These findings should prompt clinicians to consider MP infections also in children younger than 6 admitted with fever even without pneumonia.},
	issn = {0891-3668},
	doi = {10.1097/INF.0000000000002291},
	url = {https://journals.lww.com/pidj/Abstract/onlinefirst/The_Clinical_Presentation_of_Pediatric_Mycoplasma.96448.aspx},
	author = {Gordon, Oren and Oster, Yonatan and Michael-Gayego, Ayelet and Marans, Rachel S. and Averbuch, Dina and Engelhard, Dan and Moses, Allon E. and Nir-Paz, Ran}
}
