There has been an unusual surge of respiratory infections with severe illness known as walking pneumonia or white lung pneumonia – spreading high levels among young kids, according to emergency room data across the United States. The infection is caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children as small as two years old, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures. "Since late spring, the number of infections caused by M.
pneumoniae has been increasing, especially among young children," the CDC said in a statement. More than 7 per cent of emergency room visits with pneumonia in the age group of 2-4 years were diagnosed with the bacteria throughout the last month. This has "dropped slightly" from a peak of more than 10 per cent in August, CDC said.
"The increase in 2–4-year-olds is notable because these infections have historically been thought to affect school-age more than younger children," the agency added. Testing enables high-numbers The CDC says figures that come from the National Syndromic Surveillance Programme – which collects numbers from emergency rooms – have echoed an increase reported by testing company BioFire Diagnostics – which says the trends show that numbers are now higher 14 times than last year. CDC says that the levels of infections are the worst at present across the states of Texas and Iowa.
Apart from that, other states have also now started taking steps to prevent the surges from Mycoplasma pneumoniae. everal ha.
