What Is Walking Pneumonia? Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Amy Marturana Winderl
Replay Video
What is walking pneumonia?
You're coughing and your chest hurts and it doesn't seem to quit. You've probably heard the term "walking pneumonia"—is that be what you have?
Walking pneumonia is the common name for a condition known medically as atypical pneumonia. Regular pneumonia is a lower-respiratory tract infection most commonly caused by strep or staph bacteria (but can also be caused by viruses or fungi). Walking pneumonia is caused by atypical or unusual bacteria, most commonly
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, says Chidinma Chima-Melton, MD, a board-certified pulmonologist and assistant clinical professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.