Doctors seeing more children having walking pneumonia

5 hours ago

WAFB

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Emergency room physicians at Baton Rouge General Hospital are seeing more children come in sicker than they seem.

“A lot of them are coming in with viral symptoms, cough, congestion, but then some of them are getting a little sicker and after a couple more weeks, they’re coming in and that’s when we’re seeing walking pneumonia,” said Dr. Thomas Jeider.

Dr. Jeider said cases of walking pneumonia are unusual for this time of year. He said the symptoms start off mild but become worse as time goes on.

“Sometimes patients will just act a little more sick, they’ll have a fever that lingers longer, more shortness of breath, just symptoms that last a little bit longer than you would expect a normal virus,” explained Dr. Jeider.

It’s not just here in Baton Rouge. Since April, the CDC said there’s been a 700% increase in children under the age of five visiting ERs around the country with walking pneumonia. It typically starts as a common cold, but Dr. Jeider urges parents to take action if their children’s symptoms do not go away quickly.

“After a couple of days or a week or so of viral symptoms, you should get better,” said Jeider. “Now, if your symptoms are lasting a little bit longer like two or three weeks that’s when you should probably get checked out.”

To ensure those symptoms do not escalate, Dr. Jeider said you should get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, wash your hands, and wear a mask if needed. Over-the-counter cough or cold medicines could help ease your symptoms, but doctors might have to prescribe an antibiotic to fully get rid of walking pneumonia.

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