San Diego County's public health department warned local doctors Friday that the region is in the midst of a significant increase in walking pneumonia cases, especially among children ages 2 to 4, echoing a national trend recently observed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And this surge has not arrived alone. Whooping cough is also making a significant appearance this fall. The county health department warned Thursday that the region has recorded 547 confirmed and probable whooping cough—also called pertussis—cases so far this year, compared to 332 cases in all of 2023, with the majority of cases affecting those age 11 to 17.
But the numbers have been even more eye-popping for walking pneumonia, which is caused by the bacteria mycoplasma pneumoniae. Characterized by a high fever , cough, sore throat, headache and fatigue, walking pneumonia diagnosis in local emergency rooms jumped fourfold from Oct. 19 to Nov.
2, spiking from 0.2% to 0.8% of all diagnoses for children aged 2 to 4.
A similar jump, though not quite so high, was observed for children and adolescents aged 5 to 17. Generally, this type of pneumonia is less severe than other forms and is thus given the moniker "walking" as it is less common to cause hospitalization. But that has not been the case with the current increase in cases.
Rady Children's Hospital reported a massive rise in walking pneumonia admissions, with 92 kids ending up in hospital beds so far this year compared to just 13 .