Is this Round 2 of a new Pandemic?

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I dug a little deeper into White Lung Disease. One article provided some insight:

In 1895 the New York legislature passed the Bakeshop Law, which regulated sanitary conditions in bakeries and limited the hours that bakers could work to ten per day and sixty per week. The law was a startling change for a business in which journeymen bakers often worked more than one hundred hours per week. There was a mix of motives behind passage of the law. Some legislators were genuinely concerned for the health of the workers. Bakers were exposed to flour dust, which produced a condition known as white lung disease, a type of emphysema with symptoms such as shortness of breath. The long hours also took a toll, particularly in cities, where bakeries were often located in the cramped, damp cellars of tenement houses.

Source: The Pursuit of Justice Chapter 7: The Rights of Labor and the Rights of Women

This is interesting. They never really proved evidence of the cause of white lung disease in bakers. They just theorized that it could be caused by long term exposure to flour dust. But it could also be due to work place conditions of "cramped, damp cellars of tenement houses".

One of the important approaches that I used to protect against COVID was to maintain indoor air humidity levels between 40 and 60 percent. The threat of breathing in COVID into the lungs increases dramatically the closer a person nears the extremes of 0-10 percent humidity and 90-100% humidity. So the exposure of individuals to becoming infected by COVID would be greatly increased if a person worked in a "cramped, damp cellars of tenement houses".

So there is many similarities to the cause and effect of COVID and this new unknown White Lung Syndrome.

Actually I think there is a better description for this new infection. I think it should be called Antibiotic Resistant White Lung Disease. Since people seem to love acronyms they can refer to it as ARWLD. Even though this present outbreak is new, I think this condition actually occurred in the 19th century and was known before antibiotics provided a cure to this disease.

"White lung syndrome" is characterized as a filling of the lung's sacs with enough fluid to prevent the adequate exchange of gases, and cases usually require ventilation. The moniker derives from the appearance of lungs as white in X-ray scans due to the concentration of liquid.

The world may currently be hit by an antibiotic resistant form of this disease. This is yet unknown. So what countries may have been struck by Antibiotic Resistant White Lung Disease. (I think this is a more accurate description then White Lung Syndrome, White Lung Disease, White Pneumonia, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or several other names).

What Regions May Be Experiencing This Potential Danger:
- Many regions of China (Beijing, northeastern Liaoning province, and other regions.)
- Russia
- Europe (Amsterdam in Netherlands, Frankfort in Germany, London in England, Paris in France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Ireland)
- The United States (Ohio, Massachusetts)
- Canada is reporting one of the most intensive flu seasons in children since the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. This is primarily a combo of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). But this is being described as a tripledemic (RSV, influenza and COVID-19)

Many forms of bacterial diseases are losing their ability to cure these types of infections. New antibiotic drugs are very expensive to develop because of research requirements. So creating this type of medicine has slacked off over the past several decades. If this trend continues, many illnesses from the past that killed millions of people will come back.

This is from a variety of sources. The latest ones are:
Is Canada ready to deal with a pandemic that affects mostly kids?
What we know so far about surging respiratory illnesses in China

China is experiencing a surge in respiratory infections in young children triggered flashbacks of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic among infectious disease watchers.

In China, the cluster of infections, commonly known as ‘walking pneumonia’, has filled many hospitals.
The spike in illness came into the spotlight when the WHO asked China for more information last week, citing a report by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children. (This is a very unusual step for the WHO, it means major alarm bells are sounding.)
Some social media users have also posted photos of children receiving intravenous drips in hospital, while media in cities such as Xian in the northwest have posted videos of crowded hospitals, fanning concerns potential strains on the healthcare system.
(Did China fully reply to the request? The best I can tell, they only provided a few tidbits and the full request was ignored.)
The National Health Commission told a news conference on Nov. 13 that there was an increase in incidence of respiratory disease without providing further details.

IS MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE A BIG WORRY?
Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 Technical Lead at the World Health Organization told reporters on Wednesday that mycoplasma pneumonia is not a reportable disease to the WHO. . . . We're following up through our clinical networks and working with clinicians in China to better understand resistance to antibiotics

I think at the moment most medical experts are not concerned about this threat. But if an antibiotic resistant form of this condition develops, they will lose one of their main tools in fighting this threat.

A recent thread out of China reveals they are beginning to take this threat a little more seriously.

China Urges Enhanced Medical Care for Children's Respiratory Diseases

BEIJING -- The National Health Commission of China has issued a circular urging maternal and child care institutions to increase the resources for diagnosing and treating respiratory diseases in children.

The document was released against the backdrop of increasing cases of respiratory diseases among children in some regions of China, as autumn and winter are the peak season for children to contract such diseases.

Maternal and child care institutions should enhance their pediatric clinical services through various means, such as extending outpatient office hours, increasing the number of consulting rooms, and launching extra outpatient services during nights and weekends, according to the circular.

It urged these institutions to offer "internet plus" services to enhance the convenience of medical services for children, optimize the procedures for emergency treatment, and separate the flow of children with respiratory diseases from other patients to prevent clustering and cross-infections.

The circular also called on local health authorities to timely publicize relevant information including the list of maternal and child care institutions with pediatric services, and lay out emergency and coordination plans for medical resources within their regions.

Source: China urges enhanced medical care for children's respiratory diseases

I read a recent article China’s respiratory illness rise due to known pathogens
which said:

The spike in illness in the country where COVID emerged in late 2019 attracted the spotlight when the World Health Organization sought information last week, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.

But the article began by saying: China’s surge in respiratory illness is caused by known pathogens and there is no sign of new infectious diseases.

Sometimes it is the way you ask a question that provides a different perspective. In this case the pathogen may be a known pathogen but the ability to fight this pathogen using known and existing types of antibiotics may have been lost. The pathogens have built an immunity to the tools which doctors routinely treat these diseasess. Thus this condition becomes:

Antibiotic Resistant White Lung Disease

China’s fever-prone social media, netizens have been sweating with anxiety as hospital waiting rooms fill up. On November 29th a provincial newspaper posted a message on Weibo, a microblog service, describing an unnamed hospital in the north. The waiting area, it said, was filled with the sound of coughing and the crying of children. After receiving confirmation that her daughter had tested positive for a bacterium that can cause pneumonia, one woman, having waited hours, still had 300 people ahead of her in the queue for a consultation.

The item rapidly became one of Weibo’s hottest-trending posts: its hashtag received tens of millions of views. It was quickly deleted. China’s censors apparently want to keep the temperature down. But in recent days similar stories have filled the internet. Some have included pictures of packed fever clinics and even of children doing their homework while hooked to intravenous drips. The covid-era custom of wearing masks in public had all but ended in China. Amid a recent surge of respiratory diseases, especially among children, it is making a comeback.

Source: China is struggling with a surge of respiratory ailments

So is China Leadership trying to hide the effects of this new pandemic from the world?

Taiwan has decided to take action.

Taiwan has been wary of disease outbreaks in its giant neighbor since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak that started in China and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002-2003.

China, whose government claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, initially tried to cover up that outbreak. In a statement released after a weekly Cabinet meeting, Taiwan’s health ministry said that due to the rise in respiratory illnesses in China, the elderly, young children and other people with poor immunity are requested not to travel to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau unless necessary.

Source: China says respiratory illness cases are under control as Taiwan issues travel advisory

This 2nd pandemic reminds me of an saying from long ago.

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.


I always have your back

Symptoms of white lung syndrome from a perspective of India

"In this, white patches in the lung are formed all over the organ. It can be called as a white lung pneumonia or white lung syndrome. At the moment, we are seeing this in China. Many of the children are having both lungs' involvement because of pneumonia and the symptoms start from upper respiratory infection and then it moves to lower respiratory track that is the lungs. Patient start having infection, fever, cough, other symptoms, sore throat, watery eye, skin rash or symptoms like diarrhea," says Dr. Vikas Maurya, Director and HOD Pulmonology, Fortis Shalimar Bagh.

"The most common symptoms among affected children include cough, fever, and fatigue. They must visit a doctor promptly as early medical intervention helps to insure proper diagnosis and treatment," says Dr. Dosi.

"The clinical symptoms and signs are similar to previous respiratory infections caused by influenza and other atypical pneumonia causing bugs. The symptoms start with flu like symptoms and then progressing to cough, wheezing breathlessness and development of pneumonia," says Dr. Maurya.

"White lung syndrome is emerging as a new health issue of global concern."

Source: What is white lung syndrome? Signs, symptoms and preventive measures of mystery pneumonia

An article from India makes the following points:

Although the exact cause of this pneumonia outbreak is still being looked into, doctors believe it might be related to a recently discovered strain of Mycoplasma pneumonia, a common bacteria that causes respiratory infections.
Currently, Beijing has received a spike of 30–40% cases compared to last year, but in the city 150 km away from Beijing, named Tianjin, a children’s hospital is receiving around 30,000-40,000 children every day, said an expert.

(From my perspective this raises the thought that China is not being truthful about the extent of this new epidemic. Just like they hide from the entire world the extent of COVID when it first materialized in China four years ago.)

According to Dr Piyush Goel, Senior Consultant in Pulmonology, antibiotic resistance is now very common because of the rampant use of antibiotics for very mild infections. So, their microorganisms have become resistant to these antibiotics.

According to Dr Budhraja, all the precautions, like COVID-19, should be taken as it is a droplet infection, and we are uncertain about the reasons.

Source: Mysterious white lung syndrome: Cases reported worldwide

I wonder if their might be a linkage between this infection in humans and dogs. Maybe we are looking at a shared infection pathway?

More reports of White Lung Syndrome in U.S. children.

An article from the U.K. describes conditions that are being observed.

“Children under five years old could have symptoms that are different from older children and adults which include sneezing, a stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, watery eyes, wheezing, vomiting and diarrhoea.”

While most people will recover with treatment, it can lead to some dangerous complications.

Abbas (Kanani, from Chemist Click) continued: “It can cause or worsen serious pneumonia, asthma attacks or new asthma symptoms, encephalitis - which is the swelling of the brain, haemolytic anaemia - too few red blood cells, which means fewer cells to deliver oxygen in the body and kidney problems. The bacterium can be fatal for a small number of people.”

Commenting on whether the infection could cause problems in the UK, he said: “It is difficult to say at this stage.”

He added: “Ireland and France are among several European countries to have recorded a sharp rise in child pneumonia cases.

[Note: earlier reports listed England was infected by this outbreak. Perhaps they meant Ireland.]

Source: Is 'white lung' pneumonia coming to the UK? Symptoms to look out for

This is an interesting article from ABC News out of Australia.



This is a 13 minute audio discussion on the topic. It brings up a couple of important points.
1. We may be dealing with an Antibiotic Resistant form of infection.
2. We are seeing more than one infection at the same time. [or I would assure one infection with multiple parts]

China is starting to take some action.

Authorities in China have started testing people for COVID-19 again in hospitals and transportation hubs as a wave of respiratory disease tears through the country, according to local residents and government directives.

As parents and children continued to flock to pediatric clinics and emergency rooms in Beijing with severe respiratory disease, hospitals are once more performing COVID-19 tests on patients, although there has been little on the news regarding a resurgence of the virus, new variants of which are emerging globally.

Chinese health officials have acknowledged the spike in pneumonia and other respiratory cases, blaming a cocktail of pathogens including mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus, seasonal influenza and COVID-19.

Source: China restarts COVID-19 testing in hospitals, airports

This article goes on to state:

At least 2 million people are estimated to have died when the first wave of Omicron infections swept the country after the lifting of restrictions under ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping's “zero-COVID” policy.

"All localities should strengthen prevention and control in elderly care, childcare, , social welfare and other institutions as well as confined spaces, and urge daily protection and health monitoring," a Nov. 24 State Council directive warned.

"This winter and next spring, we may face superimposed epidemics of multiple respiratory diseases," it warned, citing a State Council ruling on "preventing and controlling new COVID-19 infections." [or I would assure one infection with multiple parts]