Cold and flu season is officially here and, unfortunately, it’s already looking like a doozy. In fact, cases of “walking pneumonia” have increased across the country, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In case you’re not familiar with it, walking pneumonia is a respiratory infection that’s usually caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria. In the United States, cases increased in the late spring and have unfortunately stayed high, the CDC report says. In fact, the proportion of people leaving emergency rooms with a diagnosis of walking pneumonia has increased over the last six months.
Naturally, people have questions and concerns. Here’s what you need to know about walking pneumonia, according to an infectious disease doctor.
Meet the experts: Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
What are the symptoms of walking pneumonia? How can I tell if I have it?
At baseline, walking pneumonia is a respiratory tract infection, causing illnesses that can range from mild to severe, per the CDC. It can take one to four weeks to develop symptoms of walking pneumonia. Those symptoms include:
- Feeling tired
- Fever
- Chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
“The biggest symptom to look out for is shortness of breath,” says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Symptoms can last for several weeks, per the CDC.
What is the difference between walking pneumonia and ‘regular’ pneumonia?
Both walking pneumonia and regular pneumonia are forms of pneumonia. But walking pneumonia is milder, says Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York.
“People feel well enough to carry on with daily activities,” he says.
How is walking pneumonia treated?
The condition is usually treated with antibiotics, per the CDC.
What happens if walking pneumonia is left untreated?
It’s important to point out that Mycoplasma pneumoniae doesn’t always cause pneumonia. In fact, the CDC points out that it can also cause a simple cold. As a result, most people with a Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection don’t need to be treated.
But people with untreated walking pneumonia are at risk of developing more serious complications, including asthma attacks, encephalitis (swelling of the brain), hemolytic anemia (too few red blood cells delivering oxygen), kidney problems, serious pneumonia, and skin disorders like Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) or mycoplasma-induced rash and mucositis (MIRM), per the CDC.
That doesn’t mean you will get those complications if you don’t treat walking pneumonia, though. “Untreated, the infection will usually resolve itself—though antibiotics speed recovery,” Dr. Adalja says.
If I’m an adult, should I be worried about walking pneumonia?
Walking pneumonia is more common in kids. (The largest bump in cases over the last six months was found in children ages 2–4, per the CDC.) However, anyone can get it—so, as an adult, it’s important to at least be aware of walking pneumonia.
“It is not a cause for concern, but something that should be kept in mind when individuals experience respiratory illness,” Dr. Adalja says.
How can I protect myself from walking pneumonia?
Unfortunately, there’s no vaccine to protect against walking pneumonia. However, Dr. Russo says that the usual preventive measures for respiratory viruses can be helpful here, like practicing good hand hygiene, trying to avoid people who are obviously sick, and wearing a mask in crowded indoor situations.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
