Doctors in China say they may have found culprit of ‘white lung’ pneumonia outbreak: Superbugs

Doctors in China say the outbreak of 'white pneumonia' may be partly caused by 'superbugs' – or infections that are resistant to many antibiotics.

Over the past six months, northern China has been hit by a wave of millions of lung infections in children due to the country's brutal lockdowns.

As images emerged of mask-wearing crowds packed into hospitals and hazmat-clad officials disinfecting schools – there were fears that a new pathogen could be to blame.

But tests have shown that children have become sicker than normal, with common seasonal respiratory illnesses such as bacterial infections, RSV and the common cold.

Now doctors fear that the increase in Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, a bacterium that can cause pneumonia, may be caused by antibiotic resistance.

Figures from the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in microbiology show that 90 percent of infections with this bacteria are now resistant to common antibiotics in China.

By comparison, in the US and Europe it is resistant in 10 to 15 percent of cases.

When antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, some bacteria can mutate or acquire genes that make them resistant to the effects of the drugs.

These bacteria can then multiply rapidly because other bacteria that are not resistant have been killed by the drug, creating a resistant strain.

Overuse of antibiotics increases the risk of this happening, experts say, and the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is normally treated with the antibiotic azithromycin.

But overprescribing this drug has led to resistance among the bacterial population, making it largely ineffective.

Doctors have few options if patients do not respond to the drug and must instead consider using other antibiotics that increase the risk of problems such as tooth discoloration and bone abnormalities.

The outbreak in China was called 'white lung' because children suffering from the pneumonia had white spots on X-rays of their lungs.

Doctors said the patches showed areas of denser lung tissue, which can be caused when the body fights infections with bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Referring to the threat of antibiotic resistance in China, Dr. Yin Yudong, an infectious disease doctor at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, told a local publication: 'We need to take several measures to curb antibiotic resistance.

'Otherwise we run the risk of no treatments for children.'

Azithromycin, which is also available in the US, is prescribed by doctors in China upon request or even in anticipation of illness.

Some doctors even prescribe it for colds, reports Bloombergdespite the fact that these are often caused by viruses against which antibiotics have no effect.

In China, it is also common for patients to receive antibiotics via intravenous infusions at a young age, unlike in other countries.

Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, chair of the department of epidemiology at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, said, “Very few children here in the U.S. have received IV antibiotics by the time they reach adolescence.

'But which child in China doesn't have that? That is something the hospital will do even for minor ailments.'

In China, overcrowding in some major hospitals has now become so bad that parents with sick children have to wait seven hours for help.

And in some cases they were even asked to bring hooks from home to hang IV bags full of medicine in the hallways.

A video has also been published showing people in hazmat suits spraying down classrooms, in a throwback to the early days of the pandemic.

Officials in China say they are now reaching a “fluctuating downward trend” in infections and hospitalizations across the country.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common bacteria that normally causes a mild infection that clears up on its own.

But it does cause a flare-up every five to seven years, and in severe cases, patients may experience chest pain, coughing and excessive sweating.

The infection is rarely fatal.

Doctors have also suggested that the increase in infections in China could be due to a 'pandemic exit wave'.

The lockdowns, most severe in China, deprived children of exposure to “good germs” needed to boost immune systems – making them more vulnerable to infection.

There has also been a rise in pneumonia cases this year in some European countries and parts of the US, raising fears of a new wave of the disease.

Experts say this could still be caused by a pandemic 'exit wave' due to the time it takes for immunity to recover and infection trends to return to normal.

They said this is unlikely to be related to the situation in China, as mycoplasma pneumoniae is already widespread.

Concerns were first raised about the outbreak in China in November, when an alert was published on the ProMED system, which was also the first to warn the world about Covid.

Beijing quickly came under international fire, especially after it revealed it had been aware of the situation since May.

The World Health Organization demanded more information from China, including whether it was detecting a new pathogen.

Concerns were particularly high given the Covid pandemic and the fact that China took weeks to warn the rest of the world about the outbreak – and even then refused to say whether the virus was spreading from person to person.