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Persistent elevation in incidence of pneumonia in children in England, 2023/24
- Daniel Todkill1,2 , Theresa Lamagni1 , Richard Pebody1 , Mary Ramsay1 , Daisy Woolham1 , Alicia Demirjian1,3 , Antoine Salzmann1 , Meera Chand1 , Helen E Hughes1 , Christopher Bennett1 , Russell Hope1 , Conall H Watson1 , Colin S Brown1 , Alex J Elliot1
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), London, United Kingdom 2 Warwick Medical School, Coventry, United Kingdom 3 Evelina London Children’s Hospital, London, United KingdomDaniel Todkilldan.todkill ukhsa.gov.uk
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Citation style for this article: Todkill Daniel, Lamagni Theresa, Pebody Richard, Ramsay Mary, Woolham Daisy, Demirjian Alicia, Salzmann Antoine, Chand Meera, Hughes Helen E, Bennett Christopher, Hope Russell, Watson Conall H, Brown Colin S, Elliot Alex J. Persistent elevation in incidence of pneumonia in children in England, 2023/24. Euro Surveill. 2024;29(32):pii=2400485. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.32.2400485 Received: 23 Jul 2024; Accepted: 07 Aug 2024
Abstract
Since November 2023, the absolute number of attendances at emergency departments for pneumonia among children aged 5–14 years in England have been above expected levels for the time of year. This increased signal peaked during March 2024 but then persisted into early summer 2024 despite decreases in prevalence of seasonal respiratory pathogens. Record linkage between emergency department and laboratory databases points to this unusual activity being driven largely by Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
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