Map reveals all countries hit by surge in pneumonia cases dubbed ‘white lung disease’ as China plagued by bug

HIGH ALERT Map reveals all countries hit by surge in pneumonia cases dubbed ‘white lung disease’ as China plagued by bug

Isabel Shaw

PARTS of Europe, Asia and the US are witnessing a surge in cases of pneumonia-like illness following an outbreak of the bug in China. 

Sweden and Switzerland are the latest in a string of European countries to report a rise in the respiratory bug, which has particularly affected children.

The fast spread of Covid-19 in 2020 prompted strict public health restrictions, such as global and national lockdowns, which experts believe could be behind the surge. 

As many as 145 people in Sweden have been sickened by mycoplasma pneumonia, from April through September, according to a study published in the Lancet last week.

The same report revealed that Switzerland had seen 132 cases of the condition, a milder form of pneumonia.

Meanwhile, Singapore has seen 172 cases of the bug, it said.

It comes just as Denmark and the Netherlands noted an uptick in bug cases.

Denmark saw 541 cases of mycoplasma pneumonia the week ending November 26, according to the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), a Copenhagen-based research group that's part of the Danish Ministry of Health.

Hanne-Dorthe Emborg, an SSI researcher, said the rise in cases was expected, as immunity against the bugs dropped across populations during Covid lockdowns. 

Fewer social interactions during the pandemic meant the bacteria had few opportunities to spread in recent years.

Now more people are mixing again, the bugs can spread more easily. 

She said: "For the past four years, the number of mycoplasma infections has been extremely low, and it is not unusual that we have an epidemic now."

Countries traditionally have upticks in mycoplasma pneumonia every few years, so some outbreaks may be part of the seasonal ebb and flow of respiratory illnesses.

The bug normally causes a mild flu-like illness and will typically clear up on its own.

But more severe illness typically requires antibiotics and can lead to hospitalisation.

Hanne-Dorthe, added: "We have actually been waiting for it since we closed the country after the Covid-19 pandemic."

Meanwhile, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), reported that in the past week, 80 out of every 100,000 children between ages five and 14 came down with pneumonia.

It is the country's largest pneumonia outbreak in several years, higher than the peak of flu season in 2022, when 60 pneumonia cases were recorded for every 100,000 children in the same age group.

Meanwhile, Ohio county in the US reported a pediatric outbreak of pneumonia.

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