Mycoplasma pneumoniae beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: where is it?

<p> <em>Mycoplasma pneumoniae</em> is a major bacterial cause of respiratory tract infection.1 We recently established a collaborative global network to assess the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19 on transmission of <em>M. pneumoniae</em>. Data collected through this network showed significantly reduced <em>M. pneumoniae</em> incidence in the first year after implementation of NPIs (1 April 2020–31 March 2021) compared with previous years (2017–2020) (1.69% vs 8.61%),<a href="http://0.0.0.2/" target="_blank">2</a> as observed for other respiratory infections.<a href="http://0.0.0.3/" target="_blank">3</a> Lifting of NPIs has led to resurgence of many respiratory pathogens.4,5 Here, we used this network to track <em>M. pneumoniae</em> in the second year after implementation of NPIs (1 April 2021–31 March 2022), during which NPIs were relaxed or discontinued.  </p>