MU Health Care finds increase of pneumonia, whooping cough

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

MU Health doctors are notifying Mid-Missouri residents to be aware of increased pneumonia and whooping cough cases.

MU Health Care Dr. Christopher Sampson said the medical system has seen an uptick in pneumonia cases. Sampson said these higher rates seem to be consistent with what other doctors across the United States are seeing.

On Oct. 18, the CDC released an article on mycoplasma pneumonia, or walking pneumonia. Walking pneumonia causes less intense symptoms and is becoming more common. According to Yale Medicine, if left untreated, walking pneumonia can become serious.

"You still have typical symptoms of pneumonia. You may have a cough, fever, shorter breath, but you will often not be as sick as if you have other types of pneumonia," Sampson said.

Due to its similarities to the flu and sometimes the common cold, cases of walking pneumonia tend to fly under the radar unless a patient visits a doctor's office and gets tested.

Cases of walking pneumonia have normally been seen in children and young adults.

University of Missouri sophomore Jack Shoemaker recently came down with a full case of pneumonia earlier in October and has been feeling its effects for over two weeks. He felt the most intense symptoms early on.

"I was out," Shoemaker said. "By that point, I was throwing up, I had the chills, I had had a really bad headache, I couldn't get food down, I was just overall exhausted."

Shoemaker said it seemed like a lot of students on the University of Missouri campus were showing symptoms of walking pneumonia or the flu.

"Just going into classes or like going to my fraternity house, it felt like a nurse's office," Shoemaker said. "A lot of coughing, a lot of sneezing, I think a lot of people are kind of overall exhausted right now."

Sampson said the best way to prevent pneumonia is to follow general good hygiene habits like hand washing and avoiding people who are coughing. Sampson also advises those who are sick to stay home.

"Thankfully it's not often a serious illness," Sampson said. "Most people will recover even without antibiotics and just supportive care. The people who really often need to be admitted to the hospital are those with underlying illnesses."

Meanwhile, whooping cough cases are rising in infants and small children.

MU Health Care Dr. Amruta Padhye said doctors in Mid-Missouri and around the country have seen an increase in whooping cough.

According to the Associated Press, the CDC has reported 18,506 cases of whooping cough this year, nearly doubling the annual average from 2020 to 2023, when cases never exceeded 10,000 a year.

However, Padhye reassures the public that this is no major cause for concern as this increase is still within the yearly number of cases from before the COVID-19 pandemic, most likely related to people slowly reverting back to pre-pandemic living.

While not often fatal to young children, whooping cough, also known as the 100-day cough, can cause prolonged discomfort and breathing issues. Newborns and immunocompromised children also have an increased risk of seizures and death.

Padhye advises children as well as pregnant women to stay up to date on their vaccinations.

"Vaccinating in pregnancy protects disease in very young infants who are not yet eligible to start getting the vaccine, so those less than two months of age," Padhye said. "The vaccine may not completely prevent infections, but it's highly recommended for infants."

Whooping cough vaccines can be scheduled at Walgreens, CVS, MU Health Care and most local pharmacies.