A quick search for the terms “white lung pneumonia” or “white lung syndrome” can lead you down a rabbit hole of alarming reports describing a new respiratory disease affecting children.
Indeed, cases of pediatric pneumonia are on the rise in China, prompting the World Health Organization to officially request information on the cases on November 22. And in the US state, Warren County in Ohio issued an official warning on November 29 after an “extremely high number of cases of pediatric pneumonia” — 142 — were reported.
But it is not a pandemic in the making.
“It’s actually pneumonia caused by a bacteria called mycoplasma pneumoniae. And “it’s nothing new or unique,” Dr. James Schneider, chief of critical care at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, tells PEOPLE. “When you hear the common colloquialism, ‘ walking pneumonia’ in general, we’re talking about mycoplasma.”
Warren County noted this fact in its alert, saying, “We do not think this is a new/new respiratory disease, but rather a large increase in the number of pneumonia cases normally seen at one time.”
The number of cases of pneumonia in children is increasing.
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According to the CDC, “Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria usually cause mild respiratory infections.”
“We know that every three to seven years there is a natural cycle of mycoplasma,” said Ian Michelow, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut and chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Connecticut Children’s. Health.
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The CDC is studying the recent surge in cases — though most doctors don’t seem concerned.
“I think COVID has raised all of our anxiety levels,” Dr. Molly O’Shea, a pediatrician at Birmingham Pediatrics and Wellness Center, told WXYZ-Detroit.
“Really, it’s just a name for plain old, boring…pneumonia,” she said.
And as Dr. Schneider tells PEOPLE, “it’s nothing new and we have treatments for it. It’s something to be aware of because we’re looking at trends when infections occur so we can better predict what’s causing the infection so we can treat it appropriately. But it’s nothing that I would start setting off alarm bells,”
The name “white lung pneumonia” comes from the fact that the lungs appear white or have white spots on a chest X-ray.
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“We diagnose [pneumonia] on a chest X-ray, the areas of the lungs that are affected look white,” Dr. Schneider tells PEOPLE. “They look white because of the inflammation and irritation of the lungs caused by the infection.”
Symptoms are “cold-like,” the CDC explains, and include a sore throat, fatigue, and a cough that gets worse. Very young children (under 5 years old) may also have gastrointestinal symptoms that include diarrhea and vomiting.
Although antibiotics can be used to treat mycoplasma infection, the CDC says that “Most people will recover from mycoplasma pneumonia infection without antibiotics.”
And as Dr. Schneider points out, “We generally refer to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection as walking pneumonia, which means that patients are often not that sick. They have a cough, maybe a little fever, and can otherwise go about their day.”
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However, he points out, “they are just as contagious as any other patient who has any other infection in the lungs.”
There is no vaccine for this strain of pneumonia, but you can avoid getting mycoplasma — or any other infection — by taking a number of preventative measures
“It’s really multifaceted,” Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, tells PEOPLE. “Washing hands, wearing a mask, opening windows [for ventilation]. You know, doing things that we know can protect ourselves and each other.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education