Britons were warned today that a wave of pneumonia that covers the lungs with white spots is about to reach British shores.
Speaking to MailOnline, infectious disease experts have urged health chiefs to remain ‘vigilant’ about new cases of the disease and isolate them – to prevent a major outbreak.
The bacterial infection, also known as ‘walking pneumonia’, is currently spreading around the world and mainly affects children.
Nearly 6,000 cases have been reported in Japan so far this year – more than ten times as many as last year.
Meanwhile, in the US, infections among toddlers have increased sevenfold since March and doubled among older children.
The rapid spread is thought to be due to the fact that the initial symptoms are milder than other forms of pneumonia – including coughing and mild shortness of breath – meaning patients spread the disease as they ‘walk around’.
However, for those who are vulnerable, including young children, it can cause a host of complications, including life-threatening brain swelling.
Experts say it is only a matter of time before a wave hits Britain.
‘White lung syndrome’, which is diagnosed via the white spots or opaque areas in the lungs. The above patient was a 57-year-old man in 2014
Last year, Britain recorded the highest number of infections – known medically as mycoplasma pneumonia – in five years.
This is three times as much as in the previous epidemic.
The global increase is believed to be partly due to the hangover from Covid lockdowns – when pandemic measures interrupted the spread of routine insects and weakened immune systems within the population.
Dr. Mike Beeton, an expert in medical microbiology at Cardiff Metropolitan University, told MailOnline: ‘We are likely to see an increase in cases in Britain during the winter months.’
He added: ‘Mycoplasma pneumoniae was largely absent from Britain, and many other countries, after Covid restrictions were introduced, but returned in autumn/winter 2023.
“We must be vigilant for increased infections in the coming months.”
Meanwhile, Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said virologists are still unsure “what will happen this winter”, due to lockdown-related changes in immunity levels.
He told MailOnline: ‘LLast year, particularly high numbers of children with mycoplasma attended British emergency departments.
The latest UKHSA data shows that there were 2,592 confirmed cases of mycoplasma pneumonia in England and Wales between October 2023 and March 2024 – seven times the number in 2022/2023 (364).
Before this, infections last peaked in 2019/2020, but even then the number of cases recorded in January 2024 was four times as high as in the same period in 2020
‘Unlike most years, the high number of infections continued well into the summer.
‘Normally I would have suggested that because of last winter I didn’t expect it to be this bad this winter.
“But it is more difficult to predict what will happen with infections after the pandemic.”
The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that there were 2,592 confirmed cases of mycoplasma pneumonia in England and Wales between October 2023 and March 2024 – seven times the number in 2022/2023 (364).
Before this, infections last peaked in 2019/2020. But the number of cases recorded in January 2024 was four times higher than in the same period in 2020.
However, UKHSA officials noted that this may be partly due to an increase in the number of PCR tests since the Covid pandemic.
But experts are concerned that cases go undetected and that the condition itself can lurk in the body for days before it also causes tell-tale symptoms.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it can take one to four weeks for someone to develop symptoms after being exposed to the mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria.
In the US, Alma Geddes, centre, is pictured with her brothers as she remains in a hospital in Baltimore where she was being treated for Mycoplasma pneumonia.
Alma, three, was one of several children doctors at Greater Baltimore Medical Center have seen with pneumonia so far this year
The bacteria can cause respiratory infections that can damage the lining of the throat, trachea and lungs.
The symptoms are usually mild compared to other types of pneumonia and can be treated with antibiotics.
But for some, mycoplasma pneumonia can lead to serious illness, hospitalization and complications, such as fatal brain swelling called encephalitis.
According to data from Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), between 20 and 30 percent of mycoplasma pneumonia infections are also resistant to antibiotics.
Given the mild chest symptoms, many cases among adults are ‘not formally diagnosed’ and are instead treated at home, Professor Hunter said.
However, children have had “less time to build up partial immunity to previous infections and so are likely to be more susceptible to infections in the first place,” he told MailOnline.
‘Pneumonia in children can also be more serious, possibly because of their smaller airways.’
Recent data released by Japanese health authorities also shows that 1,195 cases were reported between October 21 and 27 alone.
Representatives of the Japanese Respiratory Society and other medical associations have urged the public to don masks to curb the outbreak.
People have also been urged to wash their hands thoroughly and ensure indoor spaces are ventilated – echoing measures taken around the world during the pandemic.
It comes as Britons were told last week to brace for a ‘quadruplemia’ amid a rise in norovirus cases.
Vomit virus rates have risen by more than 40 percent in just two weeks, increasing pressure on the health care system before the season is even in full swing.
Covid, RSV and flu will also bite in the coming weeks despite currently circulating at low levels, health experts predict.