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SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - The Shelby County Health Department is working to determine the cause of an apparent outbreak of pneumonia in school-aged children.

According to a news release from the health department, at least 20 students have shown similar chest x-ray patterns and several have been admitted to the hospital for treatment.

The health department notes that the cases are spread out across the county meaning it is not associated with any one particular school.

The Indiana State Department of Health is providing kits to local physicians to help them test for Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the primary bacteria associated with walking pneumonia, in hopes of determining the specific cause of the Shelby County outbreak.

The onset of Mycoplasma pneumonia comes with the development of a cough, sore throat, headache, low grade fever, chills and muscle aches.

“Mycoplasma is transmitted via droplets usually transmitted by cough or other contact with saliva,” the health department’s release reads, “One of the primary ways to contain the outbreak is to keep ill children home from school if they are sick. If your children have a cough and any of the symptoms above, please keep them home from school and seek evaluation from your primary care physician.”

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/ea ... estigation

The Shelby County Health Department has been made aware of an outbreak of pneumonia in school-aged children (primarily elementary and middle school students). At least 20 students have shown a similar chest x-ray pattern, and several have required hospital admission and treatment with intravenous antibiotics. The affected students are distributed throughout Shelby County, and thus the disease is not associated with any one school or other specific location or activity.

The exact cause of the pneumonia s presently unknown, but the primary concern is for the atypical bacteria, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the cause of “walking pneumonia”. Mycoplasma accounts for up to 40% of community-acquired pneumonia each year. The illness can be self-limited, but 5-10% of the cases lead to pneumonia, and 5-20 of these progress to pleural effusions (free fluid in the chest). Mycoplasma is called an atypical bacterium because its cell wall is different than that of more typical bacteria, and antibiotics like penicillins and cephalexin are not effective. Fortunately, there are other antibiotics that work against Mycoplasma, including erythromycin (Z-Pak), fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Levaquin), and the tetracyclines (doxycycline).

The onset of Mycoplasma pneumonia is insidious with the development of cough, sore throat, headache, low grade fever, chills, and muscle aches. These symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses, including seasonal influenza (“flu”).

The Indiana State Department of Health is providing special testing kits for Mycoplasma to local physicians, and hopefully the specific cause of the pneumonia outbreak will be known soon.

Mycoplasma is transmitted via droplets usually transmitted by cough or other contact with saliva. One of the primary ways to contain the outbreak is to keep ill children home from school if they are sick. If your children have a cough and any of the symptoms above, please keep them home from school and seek evaluation from your primary care physician. As always, cough into your sleeve, wash your hands frequently or use antibiotic hand gel, and dispose of tissues properly.
http://www.schd.net/

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The above is a pretty accurate description and age demographis for trH3N2.

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The Shelby County Health Department said they have been made aware of an outbreak of pneumonia in school-aged children.

The department said 20 students, primarily elementary and middle school students, have shown a similar chest X-ray pattern, and several students have required hospital admission and treatment.

The disease is not associated with one particular school because the affected students are distributed throughout the county.

"Every time it went away it would always come back, and it was 102," said parent Kim Dickmann.

Her son Luke, 6, has pneumonia.

"When you start seeing chest X-rays with infiltrates, fluid in the lungs, you know this is more than just your typical illness," said Dr. Paula Gustafson, a Shelby county pediatrician.

Gustafson said she saw 15 possible cases of pneumonia last week and upward of five possible cases on Monday.

"We've had some of them complain about intense cough, tightness in their chest, they've been on a couple rounds of antibiotics, and they aren't getting better," she said.

The exact cause of the pneumonia is presently unknown, but the primary concern is for the atypical bacteria, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the cause of “walking pneumonia.” Mycoplasma accounts for up to 40 percent of community-acquired pneumonia each year.

The illness can be self-limited, but 5-10 percent of the cases lead to pneumonia, and five to 20 of these progress to pleural effusions (free fluid in the chest). Mycoplasma is called an atypical bacterium because its cell wall is different than that of more typical bacteria, and antibiotics like penicillins and cephalexin are not effective. Fortunately, there are other antibiotics that work against Mycoplasma, including erythromycin (Z-Pak), fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Levaquin), and the tetracyclines (doxycycline).

The onset of Mycoplasma pneumonia is insidious with the development of cough, sore throat, headache, low grade fever, chills, and muscle aches. These symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses, including seasonal influenza (“flu”).

"What worries me is when the holiday season hits and everyone becomes transient that this is going to spread," said Gustafson.

She continued. "Really, what I'd like to know is what do they want us to do as far as recommendations of children going back to school and parents going back to work. How can we contain this?"

The Indiana State Department of Health is providing special testing kits for Mycoplasma to local physicians, and hopefully the specific cause of the pneumonia outbreak will be known soon.

Mycoplasma is transmitted via droplets usually transmitted by cough or other contact with saliva. One of the primary ways to contain the outbreak is to keep ill children home from school if they are sick.

If your children have a cough and any of the symptoms above, please keep them home from school and seek evaluation from your primary care physician. As always, cough into your sleeve, wash your hands frequently or use antibiotic hand gel, and dispose of tissues properly.

http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-pneumoni ... 4539.story

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Sounds pretty typical. No flu test and treatemnt with ineffective antibiotics.

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Now what else, that is unresponsive to antibiotics, might cause flu-like symptoms (including fever of 102) beside Mycoplasma .

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Actually, it sounds more like atypical pneumonia.

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You have most certainly true !
I think it's flu.....trH3N2???

more link ( video):
http://www.wthr.com/story/15982693/doze ... -pneumonia

So do I. Commentary will be posted shortly.

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An outbreak in Shelby County that started with a simple cough has sent dozens of children to the hospital.

Doctors have diagnosed at least 25 students in the county with pneumonia. The strain, doctors say, has not been responding to traditional drugs.

Dr. Paula Gustafson looked over x-rays Monday of an otherwise healthy elementary school student hospitalized with a nasty case of pneumonia.

"We have had, in the past couple of weeks, about five children that have had to be hospitalized," she said.

That is in addition to another two dozen with similar conditions.

"Generally a persistent cough, sometimes with a fever, some without fever. Parents are bringing them in complaining that they are really tired. A lot of the kids are saying they feel it in the chest," Gustafson said.

Which is exactly what happened to two-year-old Jaden.

"It just kept getting worse, where he was getting more lethargic and not better and medicine was not helping and the fevers were getting higher," said Jaden's mother, Erin Murphy.

The pneumonia was discovered on his third trip to the pediatrician.

"But his breathing was fine and we went back again on Thursday and she was like, 'We just have to do a chest x-ray' and that is when they saw all of the pneumonia," Murphy said.

It's so serious, to help clear the infection, Jaden had to undergo surgery and is on a constant stream of antibiotics.

"There is some bacterial going around, where the sinus infection is turning into a pneumonia and they have seen a lot of pneumonia cases in their office and they don't know what this bacteria is," Gustafson said.

Jaden is recovering, but is expected to be in the hospital for another two weeks. If your child's cough and fever have persisted for more than a week, take them to a doctor.

http://www.wthr.com/story/15982693/doze ... -pneumonia

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