JULIE Thompson was horrified to learn about a so-called 'white lung syndrome' sweeping parts of China.
But what she'd read about in the news turned into a real-life nightmare when her son fell ill with the condition.
Little Joel first showed signs of being unwell in late November.
He had a fever, his tummy "felt funny", and his left shoulder was hurting, his mum said.
When the six-year-old started to go off his food, a panicked Julie took him to see the family doctor – but they were assured he was fine.
"He was lethargic and I couldn't control the fever, it kept coming back up and he would not move," she said in a TikTok video.
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"The paediatrician listened to him and said his lungs sounded great so they sent us home with no answers."
But Julie insisted she knew her child so kept calling the nurses, and they returned to A&E when his temperature reportedly spiked to 40.9C (105.7F).
Joel was given a painkiller and tested for Strep A and flu, but everything came back negative and his lungs "sounded fine" once again, she said.
Within hours of returning home, the youngster told her that under his armpit and down to his nipple hurt.
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"He still wasn't eating or moving and I said, 'That's it, I've had enough'," Julie told her followers.
She took her son back to the hospital in Southeast Michigan, US, where medics told her he could have pneumonia – inflammation in the lungs caused by an infection.
"He was really bad off," Julie said.
"[The A&E doctor] did a chest X-ray which showed he had pneumonia on his lungs – one of his lungs was completely white.
"They started him on fluids to rehydrate him.
"His white blood cell count was way off the charts and his labs all came back super abnormal."
Joel was unsuccessfully treated with two different antibiotics so moved to a third variety.
Eventually, he started sitting upright, eating and moving around a little.
But he still had a "gross" cough, which Julie shared as part of her video on social media as a warning to other parents.
After another consultation with the infectious diseases team, Julie discovered her little boy likely had something dubbed 'walking pneumonia' – caused by bacteria called Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
It usually triggers relatively mild symptoms, but there has been a surge in more serious cases across the world over the last few weeks.
China has been worst hit, with health centres "overwhelmed" with sick children, workers disinfecting schools, and mask-wearing reintroduced.
The UK, US, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore have also seen infections.
The spread has prompted other countries, like India, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand to be "on alert".
Chinese officials have denied the alarming surge in illness is being caused by a new, unknown virus.
They insist it is the result of regular seasonal illnesses in circulation as the country heads into its first winter without Covid restrictions.
Experts generally agree it could be caused by more than one illness, including RSV, flu or bacteria.
China had some of the harshest lockdown restrictions in the world during the pandemic, and kept them going for much longer than almost any other country.
This means many children’s immunity to seasonal illnesses is much lower than it would otherwise have been, making them more at risk of severe symptoms.
Julie urged mums and dads to get medical help as soon as their little ones show signs of sickness.
She said: "My advice to you, do not wait to take your kid in.
"Make doctors do a chest X-ray if they start spiking these fevers, if they're lethargic, are in any kind of pain anywhere on the back shoulder blade – anything that my son has been going through.
"He's still not better. I don't know what's supposed to fix this.
"I'm putting my kids back in masks for schools. It sucks."
Julie later told FOX2 Detroit Joel was thankfully back at home recovering.
What is pneumonia and what are the symptoms?
PNEUMONIA is inflammation of the lungs, usually caused by an infection.
This includes Covid, flu and RSV.
The most common symptoms include:
- A cough – you may cough up yellow or green mucus (phlegm)
- Shortness of breath
- A high temperature
- Chest pain
- An aching body
- Feeling very tired
- Loss of appetite
- Making wheezing noises when you breathe – babies may also make grunting noises
- Feeling confused – this is common in older people
Most people get better in two to four weeks, but babies, older people, and those with heart or lung conditions are at risk of becoming seriously ill and requiring hospital treatment.
If you have pneumonia, you should:
- Rest until you feel better
- Avoid contact with other people
- Drink plenty of fluids
- Take paracetamol or ibuprofen to provide pain relief or a fever
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough
- Dispose of used tissues quickly
- Wash your hands regularly with water and soap
Source: NHS
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