Classes are getting smaller, coughing is more frequent, and the tissue boxes are near empty. These are common situations currently in LFHS– and in schools across the country.

The CDC states that bacterial pneumonia infections have increased in the United States since late spring and have remained high over the last six months, peaking in late August. 

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is the bacteria that spreads through sneezes, coughs, and germs which cause prominent respiratory diseases. However, in some people, this bacteria can affect them a step further and evoke a case of pneumonia. 

Pneumonia is a serious and dangerous infection to be faced with. It causes fevers, dry cough, chest pain, loss of appetite, and difficulty breathing. However, everyone’s symptoms and recovery is different. 

Freshman Emmalyn Nevin had to skip school for several of weeks in the beginning of the year when she came down with a severe case of pneumonia. 

“It felt like my symptoms kept getting worse and worse as the weeks went on. It started off with a fever and headache but then I was fatigued, dizzy, and had trouble breathing,” Nevin said. 

According to the World Health Organization, while pneumonia can affect anyone of any age, children ages 2-4 are usually the most affected due to their developing immune systems. 

This year, it looks a bit different. High school aged students have come down with a spike in cases. 

Senior Gavin Burns had to face the worst case scenario when it came to pneumonia. 

“I had to take the ACT when I had pneumonia and it sucked. I had to leave the english section blank because I was coughing so much, Burns said. “ I also didn’t have tissues so I had to blow my nose in my sleeve. Overall I did horrible on the ACT and it was the worst experience.” 

There is an estimated 2 million cases in the country each year, one is more prone to getting it in the fall and spring due to the Jurassic weather changes. While it is unclear how many cases have occurred this year and why cases are rising right now, students returning to school in the fall and the changing of seasons now is a strong factor that seems responsible for the madness. 

When one student gets it, it seems as the rest of their siblings and school tablemates do too. It is that contagious.

Senior Brady Baker just recently had a case of pneumonia that affected his school work process. 

“While I was sick, keeping up with school work was impossible and difficult to make up all of it. When I got back to school the week after, it was a long process to make up all the work especially because I still felt sick and my teachers kept giving me work,” Baker said. 

Pneumonia is spread through people infected with cough, sneeze or talk. When these actions occur it sends respiratory droplets in the air.

Unfortunately, you can get pneumonia weeks before you start noticing symptoms of it. It typically takes 2-3 weeks to appear so one can spread it without knowing. This is why the transmission of it has been so extravagant.

“It was such a long process from finding out I had it until I was finally cleared for it. I went to the doctor a couple of times before they even figured out that I potentially had a developing case of it. I had to get an x-ray to diagnose it and I got put on antibiotics and that cleared it up within a couple of weeks,” Nevin said.