Doctors say they are seeing a spike in walking pneumonia cases in parts of Canada, particularly in kids, at a time when respiratory viruses typically circulate.
Walking pneumonia is a mild form of pneumonia that often presents as a fever, cough or fatigue, but a small subset of severe cases can leave patients short of breath or with high fevers.
Dr. Earl Rubin, director of the Infectious Disease Division at Montreal ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Hospital, says heB次元官网网址檚 noticed more cases in toddlers, which is younger than the typical school-age and young adult demographic the bacterial infection usually impacts.
Although public health agencies donB次元官网网址檛 track walking pneumonia, health-care providers in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia say theyB次元官网网址檙e seeing more cases.
Dr. Camille Lemieux, chief of family medicine at TorontoB次元官网网址檚 University Health Network, says physicians need to be aware of this increase B次元官网网址� the first sheB次元官网网址檚 observed in her 30 years of practice B次元官网网址� because it requires a different antibiotic than regular pneumonia, and patients wonB次元官网网址檛 get better without it.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported in October a rise in walking pneumonia across the U.S., especially in young children, over the last six months, peaking in late August.
