Life Style & Wellness

What to know about walking pneumonia


YBy now you’re probably familiar with the most common respiratory illnesses that can cause winter misery: cold, flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus. But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Reports Cases of another disease are also on the rise.

The agency says walking pneumonia has been affecting steadily more people since last spring, with younger children accounting for the most cases. This is unusual, because most cases of walking pneumonia usually occur in school-age children and older adults. But there is no formal national reporting system for walking pneumonia, so the CDC can only estimate, based on testing data from emergency rooms, that about Two million cases It occurs in the United States every year. Latest data from One company’s testing information It shows that positive tests for walking pneumonia have increased from 0.7% to 3.3% since last spring for people of all ages.

Cases of walking pneumonia usually follow a pattern: They rise every three to seven years, likely because waves of infection help people generate antibodies against the bacteria, which provide protection for a while. The recent spike in cases may be partly because “we may be at the end of that cycle,” says Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a spokesman for the American Lung Association. “It is also possible that it was caused by it [general] Antibodies decline during the pandemic – so we are on schedule in terms of timing.

Here’s what experts say to know about this disease.

What is walking pneumonia?

Walking pneumonia is a milder form of pneumonia — sharing symptoms including fever, sore throat and fatigue — and gets its name because the symptoms are often not severe enough to keep people in bed or send them to hospital. “You don’t feel well, you feel sluggish, you’re a little short of breath, and you have a cough that can be annoying,” says Dr. Theresa Lovins, a family physician who has her own practice in Indiana. Board of Directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “But you can continue to do the things you want to do with walking pneumonia.”

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Wandering pneumonia is different from other respiratory infections such as the flu or a cold because it settles quickly in the chest and can make a person feel short of breath. In the case of walking pneumonia, any congestion may be short-lived and last less than 24 hours, Lovins says.

What causes walking pneumonia?

Both pneumonia and walking pneumonia are infections of the lung tissue, and both can be caused by a number of different viruses or bacteria. Walking pneumonia is most often caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae, while pneumonia can be caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, or Legionella pneumoniae, or viruses such as influenza, cold virus, or respiratory syncytial virus.

Read more: When should I go to the doctor with cold symptoms?

How do I know if I have it?

Doctors can test for M. pneumoniae bacteria or may order a chest X-ray to make a diagnosis. Emergency departments and urgent care centers can test for bacteria, but most primary care doctors rely on their experience listening to a patient’s lungs to make a diagnosis. “There’s a different sound that the doctor listens to when we listen to the chest with pneumonia,” Lovins says. “There is a test for mycoplasma, but it is not usually done in a family doctor’s office; it is the test that gives [walking pneumonia] away a lot of the time.”

If you have a cough that doesn’t go away within a week, or you still feel tired after getting sick and getting better, it’s a good idea to see a doctor to find out if you have walking pneumonia.

You can’t test yourself at home for the bacteria yet, but tools to combat Mycoplasma pneumoniae will likely be developed in the coming years, Galiatsatos says.

Is there a cure for walking pneumonia?

The right antibiotic can treat walking pneumonia, which is why some doctors say testing is important even though it’s not always available. “It’s important to get tested for Mycoplasma pneumoniae because what doctors are likely to do, especially if they think you have pneumonia, is use more aggressive antibiotics, like penicillin or fluoroquinolones,” says Galiatsatos. “But people take it and still feel uncomfortable. That’s because mycoplasma isn’t affected by these common antibiotics. Mycoplasma needs azithromycin. It’s often seen as a weak antibiotic, but it does the job.”

How can I protect myself from getting it?

The same advice that doctors give for preventing any respiratory illness applies here too: avoid crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation as much as possible, and if you have to be in one, consider wearing a mask. Wash your hands often, and if you develop symptoms such as sneezing and coughing, cover your mouth to limit the chances of spreading anything to others.

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