In a recent study published in the journal Eurosurveillance, researchers investigated the unusual rise in emergency department (ED) visits for pneumonia among children aged 5–14 years in England since November 2023.
Their findings indicate that this increase, which persisted into early summer 2024, was primarily driven by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), even as other seasonal respiratory infections decreased.
Background
Respiratory infections during the winter often burden healthcare services in the UK. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) manages a surveillance program that tracks and reports respiratory illnesses yearly to help understand and manage their impact.
Recently, an unusual rise in pneumonia cases among children between the ages of 5 and 14 was detected through the program, leading to an investigation to understand what was causing this unexpected increase.
About the study
The UKHSA’s program monitors respiratory infections through various systems, including lab reports, general practice data, and real-time tracking of ED visits.
The surveillance program includes data from primary care physicians, laboratory reports, hospital admissions, ED attendance, and telehealth calls, monitoring a range of respiratory indicators from the milder common colds, which are self-limiting, to more severe illnesses like pneumonia.
This monitoring helps identify mild and severe respiratory illnesses and their effects on the healthcare system, particularly during the high-demand winter months.
Findings
Beginning in November 2023, the number of children between the ages of 5 and 14 visiting EDs for pneumonia began to rise above historical expectations, as observed through the UKHSA’s syndromic surveillance system.
This elevated activity continued through December 2023 and did not follow the typical seasonal decline in January 2024. Instead, the higher-than-expected number of pneumonia-related ED visits persisted between February and July 2024.
During this period, 2,532 pneumonia-related ED visits were recorded in this age group, which, while lower than the 45,003 cases reported in individuals aged 15 years and older, was still significantly higher than in previous years.
For context, the average number of visits during the same period of 2019-20 and 2022-23 for this age group were, respectively, 607 and 818, highlighting a notable surge in 2024.
Further analysis using data from the Emergency Care Dataset (ECDS) and linked laboratory reports confirmed that, between November 2022 and May 2024, there were 14,096 pneumonia-related ED attendances, with 2,334 of these linked to positive microbiology results.
Among the pathogens identified, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) accounted for 16.6% of cases, influenza A virus for 9.8%, and MP for 9.3%.
While RSV and influenza followed their usual seasonal patterns, MP showed a marked increase in early 2024, particularly among children aged 5–14, where it was found in 32.2% of pneumonia cases.
Additionally, increasing trends in MP infections were observed in children between the ages of 1 and 4, suggesting a broader impact across younger age groups.
Conclusions
The study found a persistent increase in emergency department visits for pneumonia among children between the ages of 5 and 14, primarily due to an unusual rise in MP infections during the winter of 2023-24, the first significant MP epidemic after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
MP is a common cause of bacterial pneumonia among school-going children, and while infections are usually mild, some can lead to severe illness.
The study highlights the importance of real-time syndromic surveillance, which enabled early detection of this trend and timely public health responses. England’s 2023-24 MP epidemic was part of a global increase in MP cases, but the unusually prolonged season was notable.
The reasons for this prolonged activity remain unclear, but it might be linked to changes in disease transmission patterns due to pandemic-related public health measures.
In conclusion, the study underscores the value of the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) comprehensive respiratory surveillance program, which includes real-time syndromic surveillance to detect and quickly investigate unusual patterns of illness.
The findings also indicate the need for further research to better understand MP and its impact on public health.
- Persistent elevation in incidence of pneumonia in children in England, 2023/24. Todkill, D., Lamagni, T., Pebody, R., Ramsay, M., Woolham, D., Demirjian, A., Salzmann, A., Chand, M., Hughes, H.E., Bennett, C., Hope, R., Watson, C.H., Brown, C.S., Elliot, A.J. Eurosurveillance (2024). DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.32.2400485, https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.32.2400485
News
Groundbreaking New Way of Measuring Blood Pressure Could Save Thousands of Lives
A new method that improves the accuracy of interpreting blood pressure measurements taken at the ankle could be vital for individuals who are unable to have their blood pressure measured on the arm. A newly developed [...]
Scientist tackles key roadblock for AI in drug discovery
The drug development pipeline is a costly and lengthy process. Identifying high-quality "hit" compounds—those with high potency, selectivity, and favorable metabolic properties—at the earliest stages is important for reducing cost and accelerating the path [...]
Nanoplastics with environmental coatings can sneak past the skin’s defenses
Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, and it's notorious for taking a long time to completely break down in the environment - if it ever does. But even without breaking down completely, plastic [...]
Chernobyl scientists discover black fungus feeding on deadly radiation
It looks pretty sinister, but it might actually be incredibly helpful When reactor number four in Chernobyl exploded, it triggered the worst nuclear disaster in history, one which the surrounding area still has not [...]
Long COVID Is Taking A Silent Toll On Mental Health, Here’s What Experts Say
Months after recovering from COVID-19, many people continue to feel unwell. They speak of exhaustion that doesn’t fade, difficulty breathing, or an unsettling mental haze. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that recovery from the [...]
Study Delivers Cancer Drugs Directly to the Tumor Nucleus
A new peptide-based nanotube treatment sneaks chemo into drug-resistant cancer cells, providing a unique workaround to one of oncology’s toughest hurdles. CiQUS researchers have developed a novel molecular strategy that allows a chemotherapy drug to [...]
Scientists Begin $14.2 Million Project To Decode the Body’s “Hidden Sixth Sense”
An NIH-supported initiative seeks to unravel how the nervous system tracks and regulates the body’s internal organs. How does your brain recognize when it’s time to take a breath, when your blood pressure has [...]
Scientists Discover a New Form of Ice That Shouldn’t Exist
Researchers at the European XFEL and DESY are investigating unusual forms of ice that can exist at room temperature when subjected to extreme pressure. Ice comes in many forms, even when made of nothing but water [...]
Nobel-winning, tiny ‘sponge crystals’ with an astonishing amount of inner space
The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi on Oct. 8, 2025, for the development of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are tunable crystal structures with extremely [...]
Harnessing Green-Synthesized Nanoparticles for Water Purification
A new review reveals how plant- and microbe-derived nanoparticles can power next-gen water disinfection, delivering cleaner, safer water without the environmental cost of traditional treatments. A recent review published in Nanomaterials highlights the potential of green-synthesized nanomaterials (GSNMs) in [...]
Brainstem damage found to be behind long-lasting effects of severe Covid-19
Damage to the brainstem - the brain's 'control center' - is behind long-lasting physical and psychiatric effects of severe Covid-19 infection, a study suggests. Using ultra-high-resolution scanners that can see the living brain in [...]
CT scan changes over one year predict outcomes in fibrotic lung disease
Researchers at National Jewish Health have shown that subtle increases in lung scarring, detected by an artificial intelligence-based tool on CT scans taken one year apart, are associated with disease progression and survival in [...]
AI Spots Hidden Signs of Disease Before Symptoms Appear
Researchers suggest that examining the inner workings of cells more closely could help physicians detect diseases earlier and more accurately match patients with effective therapies. Researchers at McGill University have created an artificial intelligence tool capable of uncovering [...]
Breakthrough Blood Test Detects Head and Neck Cancer up to 10 Years Before Symptoms
Mass General Brigham’s HPV-DeepSeek test enables much earlier cancer detection through a blood sample, creating a new opportunity for screening HPV-related head and neck cancers. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for about 70% of [...]
Study of 86 chikungunya outbreaks reveals unpredictability in size and severity
The symptoms come on quickly—acute fever, followed by debilitating joint pain that can last for months. Though rarely fatal, the chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne illness, can be particularly severe for high-risk individuals, including newborns and older [...]
Tiny Fat Messengers May Link Obesity to Alzheimer’s Plaque Buildup
Summary: A groundbreaking study reveals how obesity may drive Alzheimer’s disease through tiny messengers called extracellular vesicles released from fat tissue. These vesicles carry lipids that alter how quickly amyloid-β plaques form, a hallmark of [...]
