Mycoplasma Pneumonia Diagnostic Prediction Score: Is it possible to differentiate between Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia and SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia?
Miyashita Naoyuki N, Nakamori Yasushi Y, Ogata Makoto M, Fukuda Naoki N et al.
The Mycoplasma Pneumonia Diagnostic Prediction Score, recommended in pneumonia guidelines, is a useful method for differentiating Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia from bacterial pneumonia. On the other hand, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a common microorganism in community-acquired pneumonia, so we investigated whether the Mycoplasma Score can differentiate between M. pneumoniae pneumonia and SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Analysis was performed on 162 patients with M. pneumoniae, 422 patients with the Ancestral strain, 262 with the Alpha variant, 274 with the Delta variant, and 1,241 with the Omicron variant. When using the Mycoplasma Score, the sensitivity for predicting M. pneumoniae pneumonia was 71.8%. The diagnostic specificity was 81.3% for the Ancestral strain, 81.7% for the Alpha variant, 77.4% for the Delta variant, and 88.2% for the Omicron variant. The specificity for all SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia cases was 84.8%. When targeting the currently circulating Omicron variant, the diagnostic specificity ranged from 83.9% to 92.7%, showing differences among subvariants. Differences between the two groups were identified using four parameters: age, underlying disease, severity of cough, and use of rapid diagnostic methods. When comparing M. pneumoniae pneumonia and SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, the diagnostic sensitivity of the Mycoplasma Pneumonia Diagnostic Prediction Score was 71.8%, and the diagnostic specificity was 84.8%. However, when targeting the currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant pneumonia, the diagnostic specificity increased to 88.2%, suggesting that it is possible to differentiate between M. pneumoniae pneumonia and SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. However, the specificity is lower than that for differentiating bacterial pneumonia.