Surge in walking pneumonia affects these high-risk groups, says Dr. Marc Siegel

Cases of so-called "walking pneumonia" are spiking across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has alerted.

The highly contagious infection has primarily affected young children, according to the same source.

Between March 31 and Oct. 5 of this year, the percentage of cases grew from 1% to 7.2% among children ages 2 to 4, and from 3.6% to 7.4% among those ages 5 to 17, the agency stated.

AMID CHILDHOOD PNEUMONIA OUTBREAKS, INFECTIOUS DISEASES EXPERT...