{"id":2375,"date":"2024-11-19T15:04:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T15:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/?page_id=2375"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:08:41","slug":"increase-in-pneumonia-and-pertussis-infections","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/clinician-letters\/increase-in-pneumonia-and-pertussis-infections\/","title":{"rendered":"Increase in Pneumonia and Pertussis Infections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2681 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/Letterhead_Shelton-1024x381.png\" alt=\"VDH Letterhead: Karen Shelton, MD State Health Commissioner Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Health PO Box 2448 Richmond, VA 23218 800-828-1120 or TTY 7-1-1\" width=\"761\" height=\"283\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/Letterhead_Shelton-1024x381.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/Letterhead_Shelton-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/Letterhead_Shelton-768x286.png 768w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/Letterhead_Shelton-1536x572.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/Letterhead_Shelton-2048x763.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Increase in Pneumonia and Pertussis Infections<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">November 19, 2024<\/p>\n<p>Dear Colleague:<\/p>\n<p>This letter provides updates on increases in pneumonia and pertussis in Virginia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Increase in Pneumonia Among Children<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since September 2024, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has observed a significant rise in emergency department and urgent care visits involving diagnosed pneumonia. During the week of November 10-16, 2024, there were 2,029 emergency department and urgent care visits with diagnosed pneumonia among children aged 0-17 years. This is more than triple the weekly peak observed in the past two years. There are also increases in visits among adults aged 18-64 years. In addition to this upward trend, numerous K-12 schools have reported clusters of students with pneumonia and unspecified respiratory illness. Laboratory testing has identified a variety of pathogens, primarily rhinoviruses\/enteroviruses as well as <em>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/rhinoviruses\/about\/index.html\">Rhinovirus infections<\/a> are the most frequent cause of the common cold. Rhinovirus infections can exacerbate chronic respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/non-polio-enterovirus\/index.html\">Enteroviruses<\/a> have a broad spectrum of clinical presentations that can range from mild upper respiratory symptoms to more severe. It is uncommon for these viruses to cause pneumonia, so additional testing is being performed to type and analyze infecting viruses.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mycoplasma\/about\/index.html\"><em>M. pneumoniae<\/em> infections<\/a> are generally mild and mostly present as a chest cold but may also present as pneumonia. Symptom onset is typically gradual and can include fever, cough, and sore throat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncird\/whats-new\/mycoplasma-pneumoniae-infections-have-been-increasing.html\">bulletin<\/a> about a national increase in <em>M. pneumoniae<\/em> infections, especially in children 2-4 years of age. This differs from previous years in which most infections were observed among school-aged children and adolescents.<\/p>\n<p>Providers are encouraged to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Promote routine and seasonal immunizations and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/respiratory-viruses\/prevention\/index.html\">healthy respiratory habits<\/a> (e.g., staying home when sick, covering coughs and sneezes, frequently washing hands) to help prevent respiratory infections that can lead to pneumonia.<\/li>\n<li>Consider enterovirus, rhinovirus, and<em> M.\u00a0pneumoniae<\/em> as possible causes of infection among children with community-acquired pneumonia.<\/li>\n<li>When possible, perform full respiratory panel testing if pneumonia is suspected, especially among hospitalized children, to ensure appropriate treatment is administered.<\/li>\n<li>Consider swabbing both the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mycoplasma\/php\/laboratories\/specimen-packing.html\">throat and nasopharynx<\/a> to improve the likelihood of pathogen detection in respiratory swab specimens.<\/li>\n<li>Be aware of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mycoplasma\/hcp\/clinical-care\/index.html#cdc_clinical_care_treatment_treat_recomm-treatment-recommendations\">treatment recommendations<\/a> for <em>M.<\/em> <em>pneumoniae <\/em>infections and promote the judicious use of antibiotics by prescribing only when indicated by clinical and\/or laboratory evidence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information, please see CDC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/pneumonia\/site.html\">Pneumonia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mycoplasma\/site.html\"><em>M. pneumoniae<\/em><\/a> webpages.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Increase in Pertussis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>VDH continues to respond to an increase in cases of pertussis (whooping cough). This trend was first reported in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/communicable-disease-updates\/\">August<\/a> and is linked to outbreaks in group settings, including universities, schools, religious communities, and childcare settings.<\/p>\n<p>Providers are encouraged to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure all patients are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/pertussis\/hcp\/vaccine-recommendations\/index.html\">up to date<\/a> on DTaP and Tdap vaccination.<\/li>\n<li>Maintain a heightened index of suspicion for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/epidemiology-fact-sheets\/pertussis-whooping-cough\/\">pertussis<\/a> in patients presenting with respiratory illness, especially with prolonged cough.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dgs.virginia.gov\/globalassets\/business-units\/dcls\/documents\/sample-kits\/bordetella-pertussis-pcr-and-bacterial-culture-testing-at-dcls-16859-4.pdf\">Obtain a nasopharyngeal (NP) swab or aspirate<\/a> for testing of suspected cases. Contact your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/health-department-locator\/\">local health department<\/a> to request pertussis testing at Virginia\u2019s state public health laboratory.<\/li>\n<li>Ensure appropriate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/rr5414a1.htm#tab4\">antibiotic treatment<\/a> (e.g., azithromycin, erythromycin) for pertussis patients. Please note that ciprofloxacin and doxycycline are <u>not<\/u> recommended for pertussis treatment.<\/li>\n<li>Ensure timely receipt of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/preview\/mmwrhtml\/rr5414a1.htm#tab4\">post-exposure prophylaxis<\/a> (PEP) antibiotics for contacts meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/pertussis\/php\/postexposure-prophylaxis\/index.html#cdc_generic_section_3-household-contacts\">high-risk criteria<\/a>. People who refuse PEP should be excluded from high-risk settings for 21 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thank you again for your continued partnership in keeping Virginians safe from respiratory illnesses. Although influenza, COVID-19 and RSV activity is currently stable in Virginia, we expect these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/respiratory-diseases-in-virginia\/data\/\">trends<\/a> to increase in the coming weeks. Please visit the VDH website for current public health guidance on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/epidemiology\/respiratory-diseases-in-virginia\/\">respiratory diseases in Virginia<\/a> and other information.<strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>Karen Shelton, MD<\/p>\n<p>State Health Commissioner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Increase in Pneumonia and Pertussis Infections November 19, 2024 Dear Colleague: This letter provides updates on increases in pneumonia and pertussis in Virginia. Increase in Pneumonia Among Children Since September 2024, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has observed a significant rise in emergency department and urgent care visits involving diagnosed pneumonia. During the week [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":510,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2375","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Increase in Pneumonia and Pertussis Infections - Clinicians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/clinician-letters\/increase-in-pneumonia-and-pertussis-infections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Increase in Pneumonia and Pertussis Infections - Clinicians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Increase in Pneumonia and Pertussis Infections November 19, 2024 Dear Colleague: This letter provides updates on increases in pneumonia and pertussis in Virginia. 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