Do you have a runny nose and nagging cough that has persisted for weeks but you’ve still managed to drag yourself to work and school?
You may be among a surging caseload of people with mycoplasma pneumonia, also known as walking pneumonia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there’s been an outbreak of cases among very young children, but older children, adolescents and adults are also falling ill.
Although walking pneumonia can be hard to detect and hard to shake, health experts at Northeastern University say it can be vanquished with antibiotic treatment.
It lingers longer than the common cold
“There’s been a pretty significant increase in cases,” says Neil Maniar, director of Northeastern’s master of public health program.
Milder than traditional pneumonia, walking pneumonia is a bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract, says Brandon Dionne, associate clinical professor of pharmacy and health systems science.
Symptoms are similar to those that occur with the common cold, such as a runny nose, sore throat, fever and cough, and can be spread through coughing or sneezing, Dionne says.
