Cases of mycoplasma pneumoniae, sometimes known as “walking pneumonia,” have been on the rise so far this year, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a recent update.
The bacterial infection has “especially” been on the rise in cases involving “young children,” the CDC said on Oct. 18, adding that cases started to increase broadly across the United States starting in the spring “and have remained high” since then.
“The proportion of patients discharged from emergency departments with a diagnosis of M. pneumoniae-associated pneumonia or acute bronchitis has been increasing over the past six months, peaking in late August,” the agency said….