Kids with chilling ‘white lung syndrome’ overwhelming China hospitals as docs get ‘1,000 calls a day on mystery illness’
KIDS suffering from ‘white lung syndrome’ are among those overwhelming hospitals across China, with the UK ‘closely monitoring’ the latest outbreak.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed the news today as China continues to struggle with a mystery disease plaguing the country.
The nation called for vigilance on Friday as a surge of respiratory illness hit schools and hospitals, with cases among children especially high in northern areas such as Beijing and Liaoning province.
It’s left doctors being overwhelmed with thousands of calls from worried parents trying to book emergency appointments.
The concerning spread of illness comes as China enters its first full winter season since lifting strict COVID-19 restrictions last December.
However, that has brought with it the circulation of known pathogens like mycoplasma pneumoniae.
The common bacterial infection, known to typically affect children, has circulated since May.
But many cases in children are now showing ground glass opacity, also known as “white lung syndrome”, in lung scans – an indicator of severe respiratory illness.
Many parents are deeply worried about “white lungs” and many sick children need “lung cleansing”, report Radio Free Asia.
But with hospitals warning of long waiting queues, parents are having to wait at least a day just for emergency care.
According to The Epoch Times, a chief physician of Anhui Provincial Children’s Hospital said the so-called lung washing is lavage through a fiberoptic bronchoscope to keep the respiratory tract open.
In the past, only about ten cases were done per day on average but now more than 50 cases are being performed – with the peak being 67 cases in one day.
The worrying situation came into spotlight this week when the World Health Organisation asked China for more information on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.
On Thursday, the WHO said no unusual or novel pathogens had been detected after asking the Chinese government for disease data.
While it is not unusual for the WHO to ask countries for more information about a cluster of illnesses, it is unusual for them to announce the request publicly.
The US and UK also saw spikes in infections like RSV and flu after pandemic rules were lifted.
As a result, immunity against these bugs dropped across populations, meaning people were more vulnerable to bugs as measures were lifted.
Professor Francois Balloux, an expert in computational biology at University College London, has “blamed” China’s strict lockdown for the mystery pneumonia currently sweeping across the country
“Other countries, including the UK, experienced big waves of respiratory infections and hospitalisations in kids during their first winter after pandemic restrictions had been lifted,” he said.
“Since China experienced a far longer and harsher lockdown than essentially any other country on earth, it was anticipated that those ‘lockdown exit’ waves could be substantial in China.”
This month, Chinese authorities began issuing health advisories and warning the public of long waits at crowded hospitals.
However, they have not imposed measures like the ones during the COVID pandemic, such as wearing masks or closing schools.
So far, there has been no indication of any undue public alarm.
Bruce Thompson, head of the Melbourne School of Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, said very preliminary data suggested there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that it may be a new variant of COVID,” he said.
“One thing to note is that we can be reassured that the surveillance processes are working, which is a very good thing.”