Mycoplasma pneumonia cases rise in kids locally, health official warns

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WCYB) — Ballad Health Chief Infection Prevention Officer, Jamie Swift said over the past few months, there has been an increase in the number of cases of Mycoplasma Pneumonia, especially in children.

It’s certainly higher in this region than we’ve seen in awhile, said Swift.

Mycoplasma Pneumonia is more commonly called “walking pneumonia.”

And just like the flu or common cold, there are symptoms to look out for.

With pneumonia you’re going to get that severe cough, fever, we’re seeing fevers in kids and so really it’s that cough that’s really bad, said Swift.

Swift said it is important to get tested, so you know how to treat what you have, properly.

Mycoplasma’s bacteria can be treated with antibiotics, the viral respiratory viruses we’re not gonna treat that other than with rest and fluids, but it’s gonna be important to know what you have, Swift said.

And since this illness is affecting children, I went over to St. Anne Catholic School and spoke to Principal Anne Johnson.

We haven’t seen an uptick lately, but we have see the flu start to show up or sometimes pneumonia or just cold sinus infections, so right now we are doing well in our numbers, but those are some common things we start to see around Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Principal of St. Anne Catholic School, Anne Johnson.

Johnson talked to me about how they prevent illness on school grounds.

So everyday on a normal basis we wipe down our desk, we wash our hands, before we eat lunch, before we have snack, we have hand sanitizer stations around the building, said Johnson.

And they’re keeping things extra clean, with what they affectionately call the “ghost buster”.

It is a sanitizing system that we use, so if we notice that there’s a hallway, classroom that has a little bit more sickness, what we do on top of the normal daily cleaning, is they would bring it into the classroom when the students are not present and they spray down all the surfaces, said Johnson.

And health leaders reminding us, prevention isn’t just for the classroom.

So washing your hands, staying home if you’re sick is really important, cover your cough, mask if you are sick and have to be out, try to distance yourself, things like that are very basic common prevention measures, said Swift.

Swift said as we are entering viral respiratory season, it is never too late to get your vaccinations. She recommends talking to your provider about what vaccines are out there and which ones would be right for you.