Association of mortality and recentMycoplasma pneumoniaeinfection in COVID-19 patients

To compare characteristics and outcomes of patients who had COVID-19 withMycoplasma pneumoniaeimmunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to those withoutM. pneumoniaeantibodies. We retrospectively reviewed cases admitted over a 4-week period between 17 March 2020 and 14 April 2020 to the Hoboken University Medical Center, NJ, USA. We compared the outcomes of COVID-19 patients who were positive forM. pneumoniaeIgM with those who were negative forM. pneumoniaeIgM. The primary outcome was mortality. The adjusted odds ratio was calculated after controlling for baseline differences. Of 139 patients admitted with COVID-19, 79 were positive forM. pneumoniaeIgM. The mortality among those who wereM. pneumoniaeIgM positive was significantly higher (adjusted odds ratio: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.03 to 5.03) compared with those who wereM. pneumoniaeIgM negative. Patients with coinfection (COVID-19 and mycoplasma) have higher mortality compared with patients with just COVID-19 disease.

Automated summary

Comparing COVID-19 patients with and without Mycoplasma pneumoniae IgM antibodies, it was found that patients with coinfection had significantly higher mortality rates.