Another respiratory illness to be wary of

• disease is not new but has been rising in children

By Devika Rao, The Week published 21 hours ago

The disease progresses more gradually than traditional pneumonia, “so it’s going to be a few days where you start to feel poorly, you start to get a cough, you start to get a fever, and really over about three to five days, you get a fever, headache, muscle aches and then start to get a pretty bad cough with it,” Donald Dumford, an infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, said to PBS News. Walking pneumonia is usually diagnosed using a nose or throat swab similar to testing for Covid-19. “It’s definitely important to see your doctor if you have symptoms that are nagging after about five to seven days or worsening after that time period,” said Scientific American.

How are children being affected?

Traditional pneumonia can result in hospitalization and more severe symptoms, but walking pneumonia is a much milder form. “Walking pneumonia doesn’t tend to cause much nasal or sinus congestion in adults, who tend to experience chest cold symptoms from an infection,” said Johns Hopkins. “If someone other than a young child has a runny nose, nasal congestion or sinus buildup, it’s more likely they have a viral infection — like the common cold, flu, or Covid — and not pneumonia.”

The main cause for concern is that the disease largely affects younger children who are more susceptible to worse symptoms. In addition, the disease is very contagious. “If it enters a family, you actually expect that about 80% of the other kids in the family are going to get sick, about 40% of the adults are going to get sick,” said Dumford. The spike in children could potentially be attributed to immunity gaps, as “during the Covid-19 pandemic, children were exposed to fewer germs, potentially weakening their immune defenses,” said Verywell Health. Luckily, traditional preventative measures can help prevent the spread, including washing your hands and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Walking pneumonia can also be treated with antibiotics.