Mycoplasma pneumoniae Monoclonal P1 Type 2c Outbreak, Russia, 2013.

To the Editor: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a major cause of respiratory infections among children and young adults and is responsible for up to 40% of all community-acquired pneumonia. In 2011, an epidemic of M. pneumoniae infection was reported in several countries in Europe and Asia and in Israel that primarily involved adhesin P1 type 1 strains and only a few P1 type 2 strains (1,2). The spread of M. pneumoniae was polyclonal (1–3), except in a few semiclosed settings, such as schools (4). Recently, a new adhesin P1 type 2 variant, named 2c, was reported (5,6) and accounted for 8.3% of 96 M. pneumoniae–positive samples in Germany (7).