Cases of “walking pneumonia” are increasing in Quebec

It's called “walking pneumonia” and Dr. Earl Rubin said it's becoming a problem as hospitals are increasingly affected by it.

The head of infectious diseases at the Montreal Children's Hospital (The Children's Hospital) said that Mycoplasma pneumoniae (walking pneumonia) is the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in children, adolescents and school-age adults, but that doctors are now seeing it in younger children in the preschool age.

“We haven't seen that very often before, and we're also seeing more complicated illnesses because mycoplasmas can affect multiple systems and can also cause more severe pneumonia, and we've seen that as well,” Rubin said.

The American Centers for Disease Control recently said that cases of Mycoplasma pneumoniae have been increasing since the spring in children between the ages of two and four. The CDC is currently trying to raise awareness of the disease among healthcare providers.

Rubin said that typical cases of walking pneumonia improve without treatment, but that doctors are recently seeing children whose condition is not improving and is getting progressively worse.

“And some are admitted to the hospital with more severe pneumonia, so it becomes a diagnostic and treatment dilemma for many in the community, pediatricians and family physicians and in our emergency room as to whether or not we should think about it outside of the typical ones Age range should be treated. So it creates a lot of discussion,” he said.

Rubin hopes health care providers in Quebec take into account that the virus is spreading outside the typical five- to 17-year-old age group and perform chest X-rays to find the appropriate antibiotic for treatment.

“The other very interesting thing about mycoplasma is that there is a very long incubation period, meaning it can take up to a month from the time of exposure to the onset of symptoms,” Rubin said. “So when people ask: Have you been in contact with someone who is sick recently, people won't remember. It could be from a month ago.”

He added that there is a high “infection rate” in households and that around one in three are contracting the virus.

“About a quarter of those who get it develop pneumonia and require treatment,” he said. “And it has been known to cause outbreaks.”