SAN FRANCISCO — Health officials are seeing an increase of young children in the United States being diagnosed with pneumonia after displaying chest cold symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bacterial infections causing pneumonia began increasing in the U.S. in late spring and have remained high, according to the CDC. The increase peaked in late August.
Officials say the Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria is responsible for associated pneumonia and acute bronchitis diagnoses from emergency departments. The bacteria can damage the lining of the respiratory tract, including the throat, windpipe and lungs, according to the federal health agency.
While the bacteria is one of the more common to cause respiratory illness, health officials are tracking a drastic increase in younger children compared to years past.
Data collected from March 31 through October 5 shows an overall increase in these cases from 2023. Children ages 2-4 increased dramatically from 1% to 7.2%, which the CDC says is notable since "M. pneumoniae historically hasn't been recognized as a leading cause of pneumonia in this age group."
The same data shows test positivity for M. pneumoniae doubled among children ages 5-17. Since late spring, infections in all age groups have increased from 0.7% to 3.3%.
What to watch out for
The CDC says symptoms can include: fever, slowly worsening cough and a sore throat. Younger children may have different symptoms including: diarrhea, wheezing, or vomiting.
M. pneumoniae infections can occur at any age, but they most often occur among children ages 5–17 years and young adults.
The CDC encourages anyone with worsening symptoms like wheezing or difficulty breathing, to contact their health care provider.
If the infection continues on to pneumonia, it can be a "less severe" case where people may be walking around or not staying home. It's dubbed "walking pneumonia," according to the CDC.
How it's spread, how to prevent getting sick
Similar to many other infections, M. pneumoniae bacteria are spread by breathing in droplets of an infected person. The bacteria can spread if someone coughs or sneezes.
Health experts suggest everyone wash their hands and cover their coughs and sneezes to prevent getting sick.
