China, Denmark, France and the Netherlands have all recently reported an increase in cases of pneumonia in children linked to a bacteria called Mycoplasma pneumoniae. A spike in cases has also been reported in one county in Ohio.
There’s no sign of any widespread or pronounced increase in Mycoplasma infections in other places in the United States, but this bacteria tends to cause pneumonia outbreaks every one to three years. The US hasn’t had a real wave of it since before the Covid-19 pandemic, and experts say they would not be surprised if there was an increase this year.