Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacterial infection known to cause the disease known as "white lung syndrome" pneumonia that does not respond to most antibiotics, has reportedly reached "epidemic" levels of infection in Denmark, prompting fresh concerns about a new disease outbreak.
Beijing is saying much the same thing about what it is calling a "mystery" wave of pneumonia that has arrived just in time for the winter season. China's mystery pneumonia is characterized by inflammation of the lungs, particularly in children.
Hearkening back to the days of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is a return to face masking and social distancing, which are highly recommended across China. Circulating videos show Hazmat suit-clad workers spraying some kind of chemical disinfectant inside schools, hallways and outside. (Related: Chinese military may have been in possession of COVID-19 bioweapons much earlier than thought, scientist says.)
White lung syndrome pneumonia outbreaks occur in Denmark roughly every four years
According to Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI), rates of white lung syndrome pneumonia have tripled over the past five weeks. Government officials are warning that many children will be "struck down" this winter season.
In nearby Netherlands, there is reportedly an "alarming spike" in cases of children facing pneumonia infections, which is also said to be a problem in Sweden as well.
All these government warnings from China and various European countries are inciting fresh fears that the continent is experiencing a new outbreak and that many other nearby countries will soon be affected.
M. pneumoniae infections are similar to mild influenza, much like COVID-19 was. Sometimes the disease is called "walking pneumonia," and children are said to be the most susceptible to it.
Common antibiotics like penicillin have no effect on the condition, which reportedly circulates in Denmark roughly every four years, usually in late autumn and early winter.
The last time an outbreak like this occurred in Denmark was in 2018, which means the Scandinavian country is well overdue for another one.
"For the past four years, the number of mycoplasma infections has been extremely low, and it is therefore not unusual that we have an epidemic now," commented SSI senior researcher Hanne-Dorthe Emborg. "We have actually been waiting for it since we closed the country after the COVID pandemic."
This year, though, the number of infections is expected to be higher than usual just like what is being reported in China.
"Precisely because the number has been so low in the past three-and-a-half years, and there is therefore a group of children who have not built-up immunity, we can probably also expect a higher incidence this season than what has been seen during previous mycoplasma epidemics before the pandemic," Emborg said.
Singapore is another country where mycoplasma infections are on the rise and is also a nation where previously most everyone was forced to get "vaccinated" for COVID.
When asked for more data on its outbreak, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that the new outbreak "is a very common phenomenon in many countries, and in China that has been put under effective control."
"China's interactions with the international community will not be affected by any factors, and we welcome more visits from friends from across the world," Wang added.
Other related conditions being blamed for the new mycoplasma outbreak in China include seasonal flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), these being the same circulating diseases that spread around China right before COVID became a "pandemic."
Will white lung syndrome pneumonia become the next "pandemic?" Find out more at Pandemic.news.
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