Though the nation’s respiratory disease levels remain low overall, with COVID levels declining and little sign of a flu uptick, illnesses caused by Mycobacterium pneumoniae are increasing, especially in children, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) levels are also on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in it weekly respiratory virus update.
Pneumonia and acute bronchitis related to M pneumoniae bacteria have increased since late spring and have remained high, peaking in late August, the CDC said. The CDC said it using various surveillance tools to better understand the rise, which is especially affecting young children, a change from previous years when school-age children and adolescents were most affected.
“The increase in children ages 2–4 years is notable because M. pneumoniae historically hasn’t been recognized as a leading cause of pneumonia in this age group,” the CDC said.
Also called “walking pneumonia,” the disease reemerged globally following low levels during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Regarding RSV, the CDC said RSV activity is still low overall, but there are signs of increased activity in the southeastern United States, especially in young children.
COVID wastewater levels highest in northeast, flu activity still low
Emergency department visits for COVID-19 and test positivity continued to decline last week, the CDC said in data updates today. Test positivity is currently at 6.3% but is lower in the southern part of the country. Deaths from the virus were also down last week, with 327 reported last week, based on provisional data.
CDC wastewater tracking shows that viral levels remain low, with levels currently highest in the northeast. The latest data from WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, show that detections are in the medium category nationally, with a downward trend over the last 3 weeks. It said the South and West are currently at the low level.
Regarding flu, the CDC said in its weekly FluView report that seasonal flu activity remains low nationally, with no new pediatric flu deaths reported, keeping the total at zero for the 2024-2025 flu season. However, it reported one more for the 2023-2024 flu season, putting that total at 202.
