A surge in “walking pneumonia” in the Washington area has put the medical community on alert. Local media outlet WTOP reported this on the 14th under the title, “Emergency care centers report unprecedented surge of walking pneumonia in Washington area.”
According to the outlet, MedStar, which operates thirty-three urgent care centers in the D.C. area, reported 1,758 cases of walking pneumonia in October, a whopping 358% increase from 391 cases a year ago.
Walking pneumonia, which has less severe symptoms than general pneumonia, has increased the most, especially among adolescents aged 10 to 17, and has also been found to occur frequently in children aged 0 to 9.
The medical community believes that the reasons for the increase in walking pneumonia are ▲ fewer people wearing masks, ▲ not washing their hands frequently, ▲ fewer people coughing into their forearms, and ▲ people’s immunity has decreased due to the COVID period.
Walking pneumonia is usually accompanied by fever, cough, and sore throat, and the cough lasts for several days or several weeks.
In addition, some patients may develop asthma attacks, severe pneumonia, or brain infections.