This annoying bacteria is causing a surge in summer colds in North Texas children
A bacteria that can cause wheezy coughs, especially in children, is spreading in Dallas-Fort Worth this summer.
Physicians at Cook Children’s Health Network in Fort Worth and Children’s Health in Dallas said they’ve seen an unusual summertime surge in cases of mycoplasma pneumonia, which is sometimes called “walking pneumonia” because it can cause relatively mild cases in adults.
Typically, mycoplasma will spread among children during the fall and winter months, at the same time as other respiratory illnesses, or will surge when kids head back to school. But throughout June and July, the bacteria has been making kids throughout the Metroplex sick.
“It’s surprising this year that we’re we’re seeing such a huge surge now in the summertime,” said Dr. Stephanie Felton, the associate medical director of the ER at Cook Children’s Medical Center.
Most kids with mycoplasma will have congestion and a bad cough, and some might get more of a wheezy cough because the bacterial infection is typically lower in the lungs that other respiratory infections, said Dr. Preeti Sharma, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Health.
In addition, during this surge more kids are getting rashes around their eyes and mouths, Felton said. These rashes, officially known as reactive infectious mucocutaneous eruption, aren’t unusual for mycoplasma cases, but both Felton and Sharma said they’re seeing more kids than usual with these symptoms. The rash symptoms typically look like small bumps around the mouth or conjunctivitis in the eyes.
Mycoplasma is spread through respiratory droplets when someone coughs or sneezes. If a child in your household has mycoplasma, it can be hard to limit the spread from other family members, Felton said. But basic precautions like washing your hands, avoiding sharing any food or drink, and wearing a mask when in close proximity to the infected person can help limit spread of the bacteria.
All in all, mycoplasma pneumonia is a common infection in kids, Sharma and Felton said, so you shouldn’t panic.
“For the vast majority of kids, it’s a feeling kind of yucky for a while,” said Sharma, who is also an associate professor at UT Southwestern.
Both encouraged parents to keep track of a child’s symptoms, particularly if a cough is lingering or if a child is having trouble eating or drinking. Sharma also added that child has chronic respiratory issues, like asthma, a case of mycoplasma can make their asthma worse and might cause them to need their inhaler more frequently.
Because mycoplasma pneumonia is a bacterial infection, it can be treated with a course of antibiotics. But Sharma cautioned that not everyone case necessarily needs antibiotic treatment.
“The common misconception is that every case requires antiobiotics,” she said.
Instead, Sharma urged parents to wait and watch their child’s symptoms. Overuse of antiobiotics has contributed to antiobiotic resistance, in which bacteria have evolved to become resistant to the medications designed to kill them. Antibiotic resistance is “one of the greatest global public health challenges of our time,” according to the CDC.
