In the News
Cases of walking pneumonia, a respiratory disease caused by the bacteria mycoplasma pneumoniae, are currently surging. Zachary Hoy, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Pediatrix® Centennial Hospitalist of Nashville, has seen an increase in cases at his practice. His patients, who are typically five years of age and older, present with general malaise along with a lingering cough, congestion and, sometimes, a low-grade fever. “The biggest takeaway is that mycoplasma infections are generally mild and improve without antibiotics,” said Dr. Hoy. One reason for the surge is that testing methods have improved in recent years, allowing doctors to detect more cases. “There are better ways to diagnose M. pneumoni-ae infections with new diagnostic PCR swabs that may identify cases in 2024 that would not be picked up on testing before 2020,” said Dr. Hoy.
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