Walking pneumonia is called atypical pneumonia and in this medical condition the patient does not need to be hospitalized or remain bedridden. As against a normal pneumonia infection in walking pneumonia the patients are able to move around even though they suffer from this condition. Walking pneumonia symptoms are caused by the mycoplasma pneumoniae organism.

There are as many as 2 million walking pneumonia cases in United States every year and among these cases around 70 to 75% cases are of children belonging to the age group of 5 to 16. The walking pneumonia symptoms may not be noticeable in the initial stages. However with time these symptoms can be observed.

The walking pneumonia symptoms include lethargy and patients experience a marked and sudden decline in their energy levels. Along with this patients may experience cold and the cold may become severe with time as this infection reaches the chest of the patients. Sudden chills along with severe headache, fever and throat problems such as rashes may also be experienced.

Common walking pneumonia symptoms include continuous and annoying runny nose along with pain in the abdominal areas and in the eye, ears, chest and muscles. Patients also tend to experience sore throat problems due to cough and in some cases patients may develop shallow along with rapid breathing resulting from fatigue.

The most prominent walking pneumonia symptoms surface around 1 to 3 weeks and the first symptom is often loss of energy and exhaustion. Among children the symptoms associated with walking pneumonia may be different than those experienced by adults. Children may suffer from skin rashes or may have other problems like diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. Some children may have problems in breathing and some of them may also get chills and have swollen glands.

The diagnosis of this condition can be done through the symptoms along with a physical examination and some tests. A chest X-ray can help in identifying the condition. The cold agglutinin test and complement fixing antibody test may be conducted along with mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody test. Some antibiotics that can be used for treatment of this condition include erythromycin, azithromycin, tetracycline and clarithromycin.