Walking Pneumonia Symptoms in Adults

Pneumonia, a condition pertaining to inflammation of the lungs is conduced by virus, bacteria or other foreign substances. In this condition, the lung tissues and air sacs are filled with mucous, pus and other liquid substances. As a result, oxygen is not able to reach blood and cells of the body. There are different types of pneumonia that affects individuals, however, mostly bacteria are responsible for causing most pneumonia infections. Generally people are aware of pneumonia but very few people are acquainted with the term 'walking pneumonia'. Now what is walking pneumonia? The term walking pneumonia is used to describe a mild version of pneumonia, caused by the organism mycoplasma pneumoniae. Recently another causative organism chlamydia pneumoniae has been identified that conduces to similar infections. Both Mycoplasma and Chlamydia are observed to affect young adults. Before we discuss the walking pneumonia symptoms in adults, let's first take a good look at what is walking pneumonia.

Walking pneumonia though conduced by a bacteria, is a very mild lung infection and does not demand rest in order to subside. Hence this condition has acquired its riveting name 'Walking pneumonia', as infected healthy individuals can continue walking and performing all routine activities even after contracting this infection. This means the patient does not require admission for hospital care, and the body manages to counter the infection without bed rest and aggressive treatment. Usually people suffering from common cold become susceptible to attack by these bacteria. But the question cropping up next is that how do we identify walking pneumonia? Walking pneumonia symptoms in adults have a semblance to influenza symptoms, which makes their identification cumbersome. However, observing the signs and symptoms of walking pneumonia in adults may assist in the identification of this mild strain of pneumonia

Symptoms of Walking Pneumonia in Adults

The signs and symptoms of walking pneumonia in adults that need to be noted carefully are as follows:

• Nasal stuffiness
• Dry cough (worsens at night)
• Running nose
• Fever (not very high)
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Decreased activity
• Shortness of breath
• Bronchitis
• Malaise
• Muscle ache
• Painful eyes
• Weakness
• Diarrhea
• Crackles and wheezes in the chest
• Chills
• Skin rash (including erythema multiforme)
• Chest pain
• Enlarged lymph glands

Respiratory infections lingering for an extended period of time can be signs of walking pneumonia. The initial symptoms of walking pneumonia are cough, running nose like that of a common cold, which then gradually develop into fever, headache and sore throat. Besides these walking pneumonia symptoms in adults, otitis (infection of the middle ear) can also appear as a result of the infection. The persistence of these symptoms may vary from a few days to more than a month without treatment. Even in the presence of treatment, a dry hacking cough persists, till damaged lung tissues heal.

Common cold symptoms tend to subside in 7-10 days, however, walking pneumonia worsens as time passes. Walking pneumonia is spread via contact with droplets from coughs and sneezes of infected individuals. It is believed that prolonged close contact with infected individuals is responsible for its transmission. Infected individuals are contagious for less than 20 days. The semblance of walking pneumonia symptoms in adults to influenza symptoms often leads to non-identification of walking pneumonia for the initial 1-3 weeks after its onset. Read more on:

• Walking Pneumonia - Symptoms and Treatment
• Walking Pneumonia: Signs and Symptoms of Walking Pneumonia
• Is Walking Pneumonia Contagious?

There is no way to specifically diagnose walking pneumonia and there is no vaccine available to prevent it. Physicians usually prescribe oral antibiotics such as erythromycin, azithromycin, clarithromycin, and tetracycline to patients with walking pneumonia, when the condition does not subside on its own. In grave cases, when the walking pneumonia symptoms in adults are severe, intravenous antibiotics are prescribed.