Walking pneumonia cases in Ontario have nearly tripled since 2019: report

The number of walking pneumonia cases seen in Ontario this year is triple the amount of what was reported in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a Public Health Ontario (PHO) report, published Friday, the province has seen the highest number of walking pneumonia cases since it began tracking the data in 2019. Of the 4,069 cases examined so far by PCR testing, 733 tested positive, or 18 per cent.

Compared to 2023, the health agency reported 23 positive cases out of 2,542 throughout the year, representing less than one per cent. In 2019, there were 137 positive cases out of 2,368, or 5.8 per cent.

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Walking pneumonia, formally known as mycoplasma pneumoniae, is a mild form of bacteria that presents symptoms like a fever or a cough, but can lead to respiratory infection. Pneumonia caused by this type of bacteria is typically less severe, hence its colloquial name.

"It's a relatively common infection that can cause a lot of different syndromes, including pneumonia," Isaac Bogoch, infectious diseases specialist, told CTV News on Tuesday morning. "It can impact anyone of any age but it does impact younger cohorts, mostly kids and teenagers."

The health agency says this bacteria tends to be more active over the late summer and early fall months, with larger cyclical increases typically happening every three to seven years – something Bogoch also mentioned.

"There's periodic outbreaks of this. For example, last year, China had a big outbreak of it, we had periodic outbreaks of it, in Canada, in the United States, we're seeing a rise in cases earlier in the year," Bogoch said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a dramatic rise in cases in October over the last six months, particularly among young children.

The PHO noted the percentage of specimens really started to rise in May and spiked in August, when it reached nearly 30 per cent of cases.

The health agency also revealed most cases were seen in children, particularly those between the ages of five and 17 which accounted for 45 per cent of all cases. Kids under the age of four accounted for 25.5 per cent of case.

The PHO conducted its testing at numerous labs across the province, though these cases are not typically monitored by the provincial agency nor the Public Health Agency of Canada.

It should also be pointed out that PHO does not conduct testing for the entire province so there could be some gaps in the data.

Across public health units in Ontario, Ottawa Public Health reported the highest number of positive specimens with a 35.7 per cent positivity rate. Grey Bruce Health Unit saw a 34.7 per cent positivity rate, and Brant County Health as well as Niagara Region Public Health units saw 33.3 per cent positivity rates.

For Toronto, the city's public health unit reported a 23.5 per cent positivity rate in the number of specimens tested.

Some regions across the province didn't see any reported walking pneumonia cases, like in Algoma Public Health, Northwestern Health, Porcupine Health, Public Health Sudbury & Districts, Thunder Bay District Health and Timiskaming Health units.

This bacteria spreads easily, as it can be transmitted to someone else through coughs or sneezes.

"If people have a cough, a shortness of breath, significant malaise sometimes associated with fever as well, it's important to get checked out. It could be a number of different things, including this particular infection," Bogoch said.

With files from CTV News Channel