What in the world is going on?  Last week, we were getting reports that hospitals in China were being absolutely overwhelmed by sick kids that had developed a condition known as “white lung syndrome”.  Unfortunately, now we are learning that large numbers of children in the United States and Europe are also developing “white lung syndrome”.  In many of these cases, “white lung syndrome” is being caused by “a bacterial infection that many antibiotics cannot fight”…

‘White lung syndrome’ pneumonia – nicknamed due to how the lung damage shows up on scans – is caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacterial infection that many antibiotics cannot fight.

Prior to this crisis, I was not familiar with mycoplasma pneumoniae.  According to the official CDC website, those that are affected usually only develop “mild infections of the respiratory system”…

Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria commonly cause mild infections of the respiratory system (the parts of the body involved in breathing). Sometimes these bacteria can cause more serious lung infections that require care in a hospital. Good hygiene is important to help decrease the spread of M. pneumoniae and other respiratory germs.

So why are we seeing so many severe cases now?

Has there been an “accident” with some bacteria that scientists were monkeying around with in a secret lab somewhere?

In Ohio, there have been 142 child cases of “white lung syndrome” since August, and it is being reported that this “meets the Ohio Department of Health definition of an outbreak”…

In Warren County, just 30 miles outside Cincinnati, there have been 142 pediatric cases of the condition — dubbed ‘white lung syndrome’ — since August, a figure health officials there described as ‘extremely high’.

‘Not only is this above the county average, it also meets the Ohio Department of Health definition of an outbreak,’ the county’s health department said Wednesday.

The same article that I just quoted above also says that there has been an unusual number of cases in Massachusetts…

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