MANILA — Mycoplasma pneumoniae or "walking pneumonia" should not be a cause for panic, an infectious disease expert said on Thursday.

The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday said 4 cases of walking pneumonia were detected among influenza-like illnesses (ILI) as of Nov. 25. The cases have all recovered, the agency later said.

"This is not something to be alarmed with. Hindi tayo mag-panic.
Itong mga organism na ito, walking pneumonia, influenza, this has been in our setting for the past several years," said Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Rontgene Solante.

"Nagkakataon lang ngayon na medyo gumaganda na ang surveillance at naa-identify na natin itong mga mikrobyo na ito. Pangalawa, this is the season where...we can really see a lot of these respiratory illnesses," he told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.

Symptoms of walking pneumonia include around 7 to 10 days of coughs, runny nose, and sore throat. Patients seldom have fever and rarely need antibiotics, Solante said.

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"Kaya nga ang tawag nito is 'walking pneumonia', because most of the time, hindi nila alam na meron silang pneumonia o ganitong klaseng infection because hindi apektado yung buong katawan na hindi na sila makagalaw or nahirapan sila makahinga," he said.

He added that walking pneumonia has a long incubation period and could take around 2 to 3 weeks before symptoms show.

"In fact, majority of those who have mycoplasma pneumoniae do not have symptoms. Bihira lang yung magkasintomas, and when you have symptoms, it's usually mild," Solante said.

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The expert said the illness is also called atypical pneumonia because "unlike the most common causes of pneumonia... this one, a lot of times they recover, hindi sila tumutuloy sa pagkaospital."

But Solante also acknowledged that "in some very rare instances," walking pneumonia could lead to severe symptoms among younger children and the immunocompromised.

It is also "easily transmitted" through coughing, he said.

"Halimbawa ngayon, wala tayong mga face mask, madali tayong makapitan nito at saka talagang mataas ang rate na puwedeng mag-outbreak sa ganitong mga klaseng mikrobyo," Solante warned.

But he noted that COVID-19 had a "higher risk for more complication" compared to walking pneumonia.

"Ang mahirap, lahat ng inuubo, hindi mo talaga malaman kung anong mikrobyo 'yan unless you do the test... Hindi natin ina-advise for the purpose of just telling you na mayroon kang walking pneumonia dahil medyo mahal ang testing nito kasi it requires highly technical tests," he said.

It's also possible for COVID and walking pneumonia to hit at the same time, Solante said.

"Mayroong mga ganoong cases nang na-report. Ang tawag natin d'yan co-infection with COVID and walking pneumonia. Ang nakikita ng iba, 'pag dalawa ang mikrobyo, usually ang magpe-prevail n'yan, ang magiging severe is the COVID, especially 'pag ang natamaan is the vulnerable population," he said.

He said patients experiencing symptoms should rest at home and mask up.

"Pero if you are in the age group 70 to 80 years old, lahat ng mga pneumonia talaga d'yan kailangan makonsulta sa doktor para hindi lumala," he said.

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