The illness, which is being referred to as “white lung syndrome” in some circles, has already started to appear in some places in the U.S., and health officials are hard at work exploring whether a new pathogen is responsible for it or if it simply represents the typical rise in seasonal illnesses seen at this time of year when people start spending more time together indoors in close quarters.
The symptoms of the illness include a high fever that is not accompanied by a cough. Some of the children in China who have contracted the illness have developed nodules on their lungs that point to bacterial infections such as pneumonia. Children's hospitals in some parts of China have been packed with families seeking treatment for pneumonia, and at least one report describes the lobby of a children's hospital in the Liaoning province as being crowded with sick children on IV drips.
An infectious disease expert for the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, said that what China may be experiencing is the same surge in respiratory infections that other nations experienced during their first winter following the end of COVID-related lockdowns.
Dr. Kuppalli wrote on X: “They have already reported surge of #Mycoplasma pneumonia but this could be anything -- let’s gather data.”
Cases of white lung syndrome reported in Ohio, Massachusetts and other states
America is seeing a similar trend, with some areas of the country reporting rises in pneumonia in children. For example, an “extremely high number” of cases of pediatric pneumonia were reported by the Warren County health district in Ohio in children up to age 14 this fall. They have registered around 145 cases since August, which surpasses average numbers and meets the state's definition of an official outbreak.
The children who are experiencing bacterial pediatric pneumonia, which is being called white lung syndrome on account of its appearance in X-rays, do not typically require hospitalization and can usually be treated successfully with antibiotics.
The health department has said that they do not believe it is related to a novel respiratory disease, and some of the pathogens they've detected in patients include mycoplasma pneumonia, adenovirus and streptococcus pneumonia. Symptoms include fever, fatigue and cough.
Massachusetts doctors have also reported an uptick in respiratory illness and pediatric pneumonia in recent weeks, but they say that the rise is “seasonally appropriate.”
In a recent House committee hearing, the new director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Mandy Cohen, responded to answers about the illness by saying that the CDC is working alongside its Chinese counterparts to monitor the situation.
"What we do know as of, again, as of today is we do not believe this is a new or novel pathogen," she observed. "We believe this is all existing, meaning COVID, flu, RSV, mycoplasma."
Could weakened immunity from COVID-19 vaccines make children more vulnerable?
Of course, there is another potential explanation for this sharp uptick an illness in children: COVID-19 vaccinations. The Epoch Times points to a list of adverse events that are associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer that became available thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request. It lists hundreds of possible adverse reactions to the vaccine, and these include “atypical pneumonia,” along with cardiorespiratory distress, cough, cardiorespiratory arrest and mycoplasma bronchitis.
It is also worth noting that studies have found that people who have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus experience a significantly lower immune function for as long as eight months after receiving their second dose compared to individuals who never received a vaccine. The authors of one study recommended discontinuing additional boosters out of safety concerns, and it wouldn't be surprising if at least some of these illnesses are related to this type of weakened immunity.
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