Walking pneumonia spikes in parts of Canada, especially in children: Doctors – National

Doctors say they are seeing a spike in cases of walking pneumonia in parts of Canada, especially in children, at a time when respiratory viruses are typically circulating.

Walking pneumonia is a mild form of pneumonia that often manifests as fever, coughing or fatigue, but in a small proportion of severe cases, patients may develop shortness of breath or a high fever.

Dr. Earl Rubin, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at the Montreal Children's Hospital, says he has noticed more cases in toddlers, which is younger than the typical school-aged and young adult group that the bacterial infection usually affects.

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Although public health authorities are not tracking walking pneumonia, healthcare providers in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia say they are seeing more cases.

Dr. Camille Lemieux, chief of family medicine at Toronto's University Health Network, says doctors should be aware of this increase — the first she has seen in her 30 years of practice — because it requires a different antibiotic than regular pneumonia, and patients were winning. it doesn't get better without it.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in October reported a rise in the number of walking pneumonias in the U.S., especially in young children, over the past six months, peaking in late August.

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