An outbreak of a respiratory illness in northern China and Ohio in the US — the White Lung Syndrome as people are calling it — has sparked speculation online of a new pandemic threat after COVID-19. But it is not a new infection or pathogen as is being mistakenly believed.
In China, authorities have attributed the respiratory disease to the circulation of various pathogens, viruses and bacteria like mycoplasma pneumoniae. In Ohio, the health authorities are attributing the rising cases of pneumonia among children to familiar pathogens with no connection to pneumonia clusters in China and parts of Europe.
According to Dr GC Khilnani, Chairman of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at PSRI Hospital, New Delhi, the “White Lung Syndrome” is nothing new and is a symptomatic manifestation of a viral or bacterial infection. He said there is nothing alarming about what is being portrayed.
What is White Lung Syndrome?
When you see the X-ray or CT scans of the lungs, know that they appear black. This indicates air in the lungs. Whenever there is an inflammation or collection of fluid in the lungs, which restrict the air sacs, the lungs show up white. The white patches could be because of a bacterial or viral infection.
It’s not a new phenomenon but because China has reported an outbreak of mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a bacterial infection that shows up as white patches in a lung scan, it has probably been given a more colloquial name. Otherwise “White Lung Syndrome” is not a scientific terminology. The lung X-ray shows white patches even when you are battling any flu.
How did this terminology come into existence?
On Thursday, officials in Ohio’s Warren County stated that a total of 145 cases of pneumonia had been reported in children aged between three and 14. These paediatric pneumonia cases have been referred to as the White Lung Syndrome.
What are signs and symptoms?
The patients have symptoms including cough, fever, runny nose, phlegm pileup in sinuses, difficulty breathing and fatigue. Nebulisation and medication should take care of the problem.
Are children at risk amid the pneumonia outbreak in China and Ohio, US?
After COVID-19, every outbreak creates panic but so far there is nothing to be alarmist about. mycoplasma pneumonia is not a new infection but as the outbreak in China shows, it has been widespread at the community level. No need to panic as antibiotics are available.
Also, the long COVID lockdowns, social distancing and stay-at-home routines have indeed impacted the immune system among children, which is making them more susceptible to seasonal infections now that normal social patterns have returned everywhere.