Pneumonia cases among school-aged children have tripled since January, prompting warnings from health experts. Hospitals say more children are presenting to emergency departments.

Council of the City of Sydney

A significant increase in pneumonia cases among school-aged children is causing concern, with New South Wales health figures revealing a sharp rise. The latest data indicates that emergency departments have seen nearly five times the number of pneumonia cases in five to 16-year-olds compared to the period before the pandemic. Specifically, 317 children were reported to have pneumonia up from about 65 cases in April 2019.

This increase is thought to be only a portion of the actual number, as many children are likely seeking treatment from general practitioners. The condition, often referred to as "walking pneumonia," allows affected individuals to continue their daily activities despite the infection. Symptoms include a persistent cough, shortness of breath, and fever, which may require antibiotic treatment.

Health experts suggest that such epidemics occur approximately every four years, but the current outbreak is notably severe. They partly attribute this surge to reduced exposure to various pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a cohort of children with lower immunity to this particular illness. As there is no vaccine for walking pneumonia, prevention is deemed critical in managing this public health challenge.



Health authorities concerned over children's pneumonia increase

The winter alarm is sounding, that annoying cough that just won't budge. Piper and Oliver are recovering, but it can be a sign of pneumonia. Numbers are skyrocketing. It's particularly in school-aged children, that it's significantly infecting children right now. New South Wales health figures from last week show our emergency department saw almost five times the number of five to 16-year-olds with pneumonia than before the pandemic. 317 children, up from around 65 cases in April 2019. That's just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of children presenting to primary care, probably with this infection, to GPs. Known as walking pneumonia, many can still go about their daily life while battling it, but it can cause serious lung infections. As well as the cough, symptoms include shortness of breath and fever, which may need antibiotics. The experts say there are epidemics of this type of pneumonia every four or so years, but this one is much more pronounced, and they partly blame COVID for that. Going under the doona protected us from all sorts of nasties, but... We've got a cohort of children who haven't seen this bug. Their immunity's not been trained against it, and so we're getting larger numbers getting a bit more unwell. There's no vaccine, so prevention is key. Ali Donaldson for 10 News First.

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