ATLANTA — Cases of “walking pneumonia” have been rising sharply in the United States since the spring, especially among young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC said it’s closely tracking the recent surge of these infections to better understand any changes in the illnesses since before the pandemic, including any increased severity of infections and any signs of antibiotic resistance.
It’s unclear exactly why the numbers have been on the upswing, but local doctors say it may be influenced by children now in the midst of the school year and possibly lower immunity in children who were not as exposed to the usual childhood infections during the pandemic and home schooling.
Walking pneumonia, a lung infection, is typically caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The name was coined because people with pneumonia caused by M. pneumoniae can seem better than expected for someone with a lung infection. With mild symptoms, people may not stay home or in bed, leading to “walking pneumonia.”
Not every walking pneumonia case is tracked by health officials, but surveillance data from the CDC shows a notable increase especially among children between 2 and 4 years old.
IN EARLY October, about 7% of emergency room visits among children in this age group were for walking pneumonia, up from 1% in March, according to CDC. The percentage of Mycoplasma pneumonia-related illnesses rose to 7.4%, up from 3.6% for children between the ages of 5 and 17 during this same time period, according to the CDC.
“The increase in children ages 2-4 years is notable because M. pneumoniae historically hasn’t been recognized as a leading cause of pneumonia in this age group,” the CDC said.
The infection is transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets during close contact. It has an incubation period that ranges between one to four weeks.
Symptoms include sore throat, cough, headache, mild chills and low-grade fever. Treatment can include antibiotics, but Linam said most recover without the need for antibiotics and it’s rare that children with walking pneumonia would need to be hospitalized.
