AMAQ warns of tough winter period with walking pneumonia joining list of respiratory diseases

Experts are bracing for a “tough” winter period as parents battle to keep their children safe from yet another respiratory disease that more than 1000 have tested positive to already this year.

As winter nears parents are battling to keep their children safe from yet another respiratory disease that has taken grip of the state - “walking pneumonia”.

Queensland Health reports that this year, up until May 5, 6587 PCR tests for mycoplasma pneumoniae were carried out and one quarter proved positive.

With Covid, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), whooping cough and influenza all in circulation, families are struggling to keep illness from their door and the Australian Medical Association Queensland chief warns it’s going to be a brutal winter season.

While mycoplasma is generally a mild form of pneumonia it can cause serious illness. It is called “walking pneumonia” in the less severe cases.

Children aged three to seven are the most prone to the disease and it can be spread by coughing and sneezing. It causes a lung infection and that can bring a dry cough with fever.

A nurse prepares a pneumonia vaccine to treat a child suffering from the disease.

The pneumonia is not a notifiable condition but Queensland Health is keeping a close eye on the numbers.

“We closely monitor all infectious diseases and provide advice to the community where appropriate. While mycoplasma infections typically fluctuate year to year, Queensland has seen an increase in cases,” a spokesman said.

“Normal patterns of respiratory infection have been disrupted since 2020. We had not seen significant numbers of mycoplasma infection since before the Covid-19 pandemic, with numbers now returning to pre-pandemic levels.”

The recent increase in mycoplasma cases corresponds with similar recent experiences in the Northern Hemisphere.

Queensland Health warns that good hand hygiene, covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or inside of the arm and staying at home when sick will help limit the spread.

AMAQ President Dr Maria Boulton fears it will be a tough winter for parents. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

AMAQ president Maria Boulton told The Courier-Mail that it is important parents seek medical attention if their child is sick.

“For a start, all these diseases can have similar symptoms so a diagnosis is necessary especially with this bacterial mycoplasma. Treatment will be tailored to whether the condition is mild, moderate or severe. This condition needs a very specific antibiotic,” Dr Boulton said.

“If a child is having difficulty breathing, is floppy, inactive, dehydrated urgent action is needed. Babies can make a grunting sound if they are having breathing problems,” she said.

Dr Boulton said she is seeing increased cases of mycoplasma as a GP.

“I fear it is going to be a tough winter,” she said.