Mystery child pneumonia outbreak China

[Onand]

Has anyone else’s X feed started showing reports about what’s happening in China? It caught my attention because it rings eerily similar to 2019 when the rumours of pneumonia outbreaks in Wuhan were starting. It could be one to keep an eye on especially as they’ve put out an alert.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/china-disease-children-hospitals-pneumonia/

From the article: Symptoms of walking pneumonia – which generally affects young children – include a sore throat, fatigue, and a lingering cough that can last for weeks or months. In severe cases, this can eventually deteriorate into pneumonia.

Hopefully it’s the results of Covid restrictions lifting similar to the RSV outbreak we had here instead of something else…

I saw this too and started to wonder…

It isn't really a mystery, though, if it's been identified as walking pneumonia (Mycoplasma pneumoniae). 'Walking pneumonia' quite literally means a mild form of pneumonia that you may be up and walking around with, unlike the usual form. This one does seem to be affecting children primarily, however, and some are ending up in hospital, so perhaps it is worth keeping an eye on.

I think the mystery is how quickly this has picked up and the fact that it’s seemingly come from nowhere and yet affected a lot of young people.

I’m in China. A few of my students had this. Just like a chest infection in the worst case (this student stayed home for a week and recovered). Other cases very mild cold - most children came to school and just coughed a bit occasionally. Recovered fast. Couldn’t notice the difference between this and a normal cough/cold without a blood test!

(I mean as a teacher nothing stood out as different to the normal seasonal colds and bugs that go around schools at this time of year)

Also as a PP said, it’s not a mystery at all.

(In terms of them knowing what it is, I mean.) certainly no need to be alarmed.

Interesting, I wonder why the hospitals are so overwhelmed if it is as you say, ‘mild’. High infection rate maybe?

Sky News now have it on their main page

https://news.sky.com/story/who-seeks-answers-from-china-about-mystery-outbreak-of-respiratory-illness-13014034

We are all bored now of saturation Gaza coverage, this is just a scaremongering attempt to sell more papers. I wouldn't worry. Looks like it's the same effect we saw after lifting all restrictions.

My 7yo cousin has just left a hospital in Hong Kong where she's been all week after they took a visit to Vietnam. She and my Aunt both had mycoplasma. It's a pretty common bug tbh, but she didn't shake it off for a week before the hospital. Aunt hasn't needed treatment and neither has her husband or son.

Strep scare in UK, RSV in New Zealand and USA, what is happening in China is a post lockdowns spike of cases in known microbe infections in a place that had the most prolonged lockdowns. Sometimes it works out that people can stay safer from infections by constant exposure rather than hiding away. No mystery in it.

Not sure the rsv surge had much to do with stopping home for a few months. I think the immune damaging virus is more plausible and science seems to be coming out to support that (now it’s conveniently out of the media). Until we accept that we can clean the air and mitigate for airborne viruses and that it’s worth doing so, airborne diseases are going to increase chronic illness and death and decrease our life expectancies. But nobody - it not enough people - are prepared to entertain change.

https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/1722760495835349486?s=46&t=OERvR2OuC9VPTkVSKd3ZLQ

Rising cases in Denmark now

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/pneumonia/denmark-reports-mycoplasma-pneumonia-epidemic