It's Happening - I Hope You Are Ready

A mystery disease has sparked fear across the world, after cases were recorded in Europe following a rise of the illness in the States and China.

Symptoms of the condition, known as white lung syndrome, include a fever, fatigue and a cough, as well as phlegm and having trouble breathing, reports the Mirror. Case rates of this illness have reached "epidemic" levels in Denmark, according to doctors in the country, which comes days after the Netherlands reported their own spike in children battling the disease.

This syndrome is a form of pneumonia - which is a worrying inflammation of the lungs - and this new illness has been particularly prevalent in children as of late. It has also been reported almost 150 cases of pneumonia have been recorded in the state of Ohio in the States, in the last month.
The Warren County Health Department has said they will work with the Ohio Department of Health, as well as children's hospitals, primary care providers and other people as they work to reduce the spread of cases.

However, doctors in Denmark are significantly more concerned, as they said the spread of the white lung syndrome - thought to be a type of mycoplasma pneumonia - can be prevented by covering your mouth while coughing, washing your hands and staying at home while you are ill.

Hanne-Dorthe Emborg, senior researcher at Statens Serum Institut (SSI), said: "For the past four years, the number of mycoplasma infections has been extremely low, and it is therefore not unusual that we have an epidemic now. We have actually been waiting for it since we closed the country after the Covid pandemic.

"Precisely because the number has been so low in the past three-and-a-half years, and there is therefore a group of children who have not built up immunity, we can probably also expect a higher incidence this season than what has been seen during previous mycoplasma epidemics before the pandemic."

The condition is suspected to have began its spread in China, who insisted they have taken measures to prevent the transmission of white lung syndrome, and other illnesses following coronavirus.

The country's foreign minister Wang Yi said: "It (pneumonia) is a very common phenomenon in many countries, and in China that has been put under effective control.

"China's interactions with the international community will not be affected by any factors, and we welcome more visits from friends from across the world."

Daily Record, Scotland