United States: The rising cases of the so-called “walking pneumonia” have escalated across the United States, the CDC notified.
The flu is highly transmittable and has mostly been reported to infect young children, according to the health agency.
More about the news
From March 31 through October 5 of this year, the percentage increased from 1 percent to 7.2 percent among children ages 2–4 years and from 3.6 percent to 7.4 percent among children ages 5–17 years, according to the agency.
When interviewing Dr. Marc Siegel, a senior medical analyst for Fox News Digital, was on camera asking him what everybody should know about this condition, Fox News reported.
About the disease
The disease has other names as well, such as “atypical pneumonia,” whereas walking pneumonia is a “mild lung infection,” described Cleveland Clinic. People mostly think it is a regular case of the flu or even of the bad flu.
According to Siegel, “Walking pneumonia is less than a full lobar pneumonia, where an entire region of the lungs is whited out from a bacteria or virus,” Fox News reported.
“Walking pneumonia generally refers to patchy pneumonia, where the pathogen isn’t affecting one specific region of the lung,” he added.
What do its symptoms look like?
Common causes include bacteria, viruses, or exposure to mold, and the condition results in inflammation of airways and the presence of fluid in the lungs.
Possible symptoms of atypical pneumonia might include the following, as depicted by the Cleveland Clinic.
Although traditional and walking pneumonia are similar to each other in many ways, the character of a cough differentiates one from the other, according to Siegel.
This condition also does not cause the high fever that is characteristic of full-blown pneumonia, he added.
This type of pneumonia, as its name suggests, may not be confined to bed or, in other words, may be able to walk around. But even if such an infection seems less severe, it still could necessitate a doctor’s attention, the doctor emphasized.
The following includes signs of atypical pneumonia as described by Cleveland Clinic:
- Sore throat
- Extreme fatigue
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Low-grade fever
- Mild chills
- Coughing (usually the longest-lasting symptom)
- Sneezing
- Headache
Furthermore, Siegal noted that different types of cough marks are the key differentiator between traditional and walking pneumonia.
He added, “If you have a rip-roaring, traditional bacterial pneumonia, you’re going to be coughing up green, brown, or dark yellow,” Fox News reported.