Walking pneumonia is spiking, especially in kids. Here's what to know

If you or your kid has a cough that’s been lingering, keep reading. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases of mycoplasma pneumonia are surging across the U.S., especially among young kids.

Preeti Sharma is a pediatric pulmonologist who has seen the rise up close. She’s an associate professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern and Children’s Health in Dallas and a mom of two. At the end of May, her 12-year-old daughter came home from school with what looked like a typical summer cold.

“She had a runny nose, some sneezing, a little bit of sore throat, and a little bit of kind of feeling fatigued, lower appetite,” Sharma says.

And then the cough started. “We just kind of watched it progress until she had this very lingering, deep, disruptive cough,” she says.

That cough is what tipped Sharma off that her daughter had mycoplasma pneumonia. It’s caused by an infection with the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The CDC says cases began rising across the U.S. in the spring and summer, and that surge has continued into fall. Sharma says in Dallas, they saw a big spike after kids went back to school.