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Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
If you’ve got a sense of deja vu about the horrible new strain of pneumonia striking down children in China that seems to be creeping across the world, you’re not alone. It’s called White Lung Syndrome. But while the US government is proudly talking about pandemic preparedness, running drills for a fictitious (we think) viral illness, and throwing billions of dollars at promoting a largely useless vaccine, they seem to be ignoring this massive spike in pneumonia.
So what’s going on in China?
The World Health Organization has asked China for more data about an illness spreading across the country like wildfire. Here’s what they’ve posted on their website about it so far.
Since mid-October 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring data from Chinese surveillance systems that have been showing an increase in respiratory illness in children in northern China.
At a press conference on 13 November 2023, China’s National Health Commission reported on a nationwide increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases, predominantly affecting children. Chinese authorities attributed this increase to lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the arrival of the cold season, and due to circulating known pathogens such as influenza, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Mycoplasma pneumonia and RSV are known to affect children more than adults.
On 22 November 2023, WHO identified media and ProMED reports about clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children’s hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning and other places in China. Through the International Health Regulations mechanism, WHO made an official request to China to provide additional epidemiologic and clinical information, as well as laboratory results from these reported cases and data about recent trends in circulating respiratory pathogens. A key purpose was to identify whether there have been “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia” in Beijing and Liaoning as referred to in media reports, and if so whether these were separate events, or part of the known general increase in respiratory illnesses in the community. WHO further reached out through clinical networks for additional information.
Of course, China says everything is A-OK. (Where have we heard that before?)
Chinese authorities advised that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning, but only the aforementioned general increase in respiratory illnesses due to multiple known pathogens. They further stated that the rise in respiratory illness has not resulted in patient loads exceeding hospital capacities.
The WHO website doesn’t mention it being called White Lung Syndrome. This was mentioned by a news source in the UK, which described a familiar scenario that’ll give you flashbacks to 2020.
CHINA has brought back masks and social distancing in a chilling echo of lockdown as they battle a mystery pneumonia outbreak four years on from Covid.
Alarming footage has emerged of mask-wearing crowds inside Chinese hospitals as fears of a new pandemic sweep across the globe…
…A common bacterial infection called mycoplasma pneumoniae has circulated since May but is now showing ground glass opacity in lung scans – an indicator of severe respiratory illness.
Also known as “white lung syndrome”, many parents are deeply worried and are having to wait at least a day just for emergency care.
There’s not a whole lot we know about this yet. But I think it bears close watching.
Is White Lung Syndrome spreading outside of China?
It appears that this nasty bug has escaped China.
There’s a massive uptick in cases of in the Netherlands with an increase in cases of 25%. Denmark has also reported an “epidemic of Mycoplasma pneumoniae” over the past five weeks.
In the United States, two states have reported a rise in cases.
Ohio was the first state to report an increase in cases of pediatric pneumonia with an “extremely high” number of children being hospitalized. It’s enough to be called an outbreak, but public health officials there don’t seem to think it’s a novel illness.
However, officials do not think it is a new respiratory disease but “rather a large uptick in the number of pneumonia cases normally seen at one time,” according to a WCHD spokesperson.
The average age of the affected children is 8, with the youngest being 3 years old.
According to NewsNation affiliate WJW, health officials say they don’t have a common threat linking all the illnesses, as that is part of an ongoing investigation.
The cases span multiple school districts, but the WCHD said no conclusive patterns exist among the children diagnosed.
Children are also testing positive for mycoplasma pneumonia, strep and adenovirus, which includes the common cold, according to the health district.
Massachusetts has also recorded a large number of cases. According to BNN:
These cases in Massachusetts could potentially signify a new or re-emerging health threat. Consequently, health authorities are poised to conduct investigations to identify the cause, assess the severity, and determine the appropriate public health response. This process would likely include analyzing patient histories, environmental factors, and potential infectious agents. As investigations continue, the public would be advised to watch for symptoms and seek immediate medical attention if respiratory issues arise. Healthcare providers, on the other hand, are on high alert for similar cases to track the spread and characteristics of the syndrome.
Information is difficult to get.
In another similarity that is bound to give you a blast from the past, real information is difficult to acquire. A lot of “experts” are downplaying the connection to China, while others seem to think that it’s just due to people getting out and about more after Covid. (I’m no expert, but we’ve been out and about for quite a while now without a mysterious pneumonia outbreak.)
I’m looking to those who gave us the best advice and information during the utter clusterfudge that was the American COVID-19 response. The ones who went against the grain even though it outright destroyed their careers.
First, here are Dr. John Campbell’s thoughts in this video.
He describes the identifying symptoms as inflammation in the lungs a high fever but no cough.
You’ve got to get prepared.
If we learned one thing before, it’s that we cannot trust “the system” if there’s a major outbreak or pandemic. Who can forget the lockdowns that destroyed our economy, the shortages of basic supplies, and the outright malicious crackdown on any information that didn’t make money for Big Pharma?
Dr. Peter McCullough of The Wellness Company is urging preparedness. In a statement, TWC said:
We will be monitoring the situation in China closely, try to ascertain as quickly as possible what is causing the pneumonia.
In his position of Chief Scientific Officer for the Wellness Company, Dr. Peter McCullough is conducting investigative scholarship to ascertain what medications are the most safe and effective for conditions such as the pneumonia now circulating in northern China. Our ultimate objective is to ascertain if already available, FDA-approved medications could be useful in treating this pneumonia in the event it spreads to the United States.
Given the appalling performance of so many doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our readers may find themselves in search of a new doctor who has demonstrated greater discernment.
I personally recommend the following.
I have this emergency medicine kit with a wide variety of prescription antibiotics and other medications. While this illness has shown to be resistant to certain antibiotics, it isn’t resistant to all antibiotics so it pays to have a variety on hand. TWC sells another kit that could also be useful – their Covid Emergency Kit. I like that it comes with the medications you absolutely could not get prescribed before such as Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine and it also has a nebulizer and prescription Budesonide to help with breathing – particularly important with respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia.
I hope this is nothing.
Hopefully, this will turn out to be nothing more than folks around the world being jumpy about any kind of bug coming out of China after our last experience. But with a new target demographic (oh look, more humans to vaccinate regardless of the long-term effects!) and what we’ve learned about how the government – and other people – respond, it’s difficult not to be concerned.
But we’re preppers. We called everything that happened the last time around, and we weathered the storm far more easily than many Americans who lost jobs, had no supplies, and are still reeling from 2020.
We did it then, and we can do it now. We know what to expect even more than we did before.
What are your thoughts on White Lung Syndrome? Do you think it’s another engineered pandemic or an unfortunate natural confluence of bacteria? Are you concerned that it’s going to turn into Covid 2.0? Do you foresee lockdowns or school closures in our future? What will you do to prep for this?
Let’s discuss it in the comments.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.