Mystery virus plunges overcrowded hospitals into chaos as mortality ‘worse than Covid’
An outbreak of a pneumonia of ‘unknown origin’ has swept across China – cases of ‘White Lung’, pneumonia, fever and other respiratory virus symptoms have left hospitals overcrowded
China has braced for the worst as a new virus outbreak is spreading rapidly and causing flu-like COVID-19 symptoms across the country. According to information on mainland social media platforms, children’s hospitals across China have been overcrowded by many children with symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, weakness and dizziness.
On Friday, a news report from Reuters said China’s disease control authority was piloting a monitoring system for pneumonia of an unknown origin. The situation has sparked fears of cases of “White Lung” – a term often used to describe severe pneumonia symptoms.
Some have claimed that China has declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak, however, there has been no official confirmation from either the Chinese government or World Health Organisation.
The National Disease Control and Prevention Administration (NCDPA) released a statement this week and revealed infections had risen significantly from the week of December 16 to 22.
Alongside this, a NCDPA spokesman stated while respiratory infections were expected to increase throughout the winter the total number of cases this year were lower than 2024.
On December 27, a doctor in Jiangsu Province posted on the mainland Xiaohongshu platform and said a new unknown virus had been found in their hospital.
The doctor claimed the patients affected were suffering from pneumonia and respiratory failure and while the virus was not as transmissible like the coronavirus, the mortality rate was much greater.
According to the doctor, out of the 30 patients in the ward he was responsible for six had passed away and three of the remaining patients were about to die.
A woman on social media claimed the major hospitals in Shenyang, the largest city in China’s Liaoning province, had completely fallen. She also claimed viruses such as Mycoplasma, influenza and Sanyang had cross-fused to cause the outbreak.
Alongside these viruses, the virus HMPV has also been named as potentially responsible for this outbreak. HMPV is another respiratory virus that can cause pneumonia and bronchitis in severe cases.
The outbreak is particularly concerning to vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and individuals with pre-existing health conditions. Individuals with conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at heightened levels of risk.
