{"id":82684,"date":"2023-12-06T17:32:19","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/?p=82684"},"modified":"2023-12-06T17:32:19","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:32:19","slug":"mums-horror-at-watching-son-6-battle-terrifying-white-lung-syndrome-as-pneumonia-cases-sweep-the-globe-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/lifestyle\/mums-horror-at-watching-son-6-battle-terrifying-white-lung-syndrome-as-pneumonia-cases-sweep-the-globe-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Mum's horror at watching son, 6, battle terrifying 'white lung syndrome' as pneumonia cases sweep the globe | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

JULIE Thompson was horrified to learn about a so-called 'white lung syndrome' sweeping parts of China.<\/p>\n

But what she'd read about in the news turned into a real-life nightmare when her son fell ill with the condition. <\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Little Joel first showed signs of being unwell in late November.<\/p>\n

He had a fever, his tummy "felt funny", and his left shoulder was hurting, his mum said. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

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"The paediatrician listened to him and said his lungs sounded great so they sent us home with no answers."<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

Within hours of returning home, the youngster told her that under his armpit and down to his nipple hurt.<\/p>\n

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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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

"He was really bad off," Julie said.<\/p>\n

"[The A&E doctor] did a chest X-ray which showed he had pneumonia on his lungs – one of his lungs was completely white. <\/p>\n

"They started him on fluids to rehydrate him.<\/p>\n

"His white blood cell count was way off the charts and his labs all came back super abnormal."<\/p>\n

Joel was unsuccessfully treated with two different antibiotics so moved to a third variety. <\/p>\n

Eventually, he started sitting upright, eating and moving around a little. <\/p>\n

But he still had a "gross" cough, which Julie shared as part of her video on social media as a warning to other parents. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It usually triggers relatively mild symptoms, but there has been a surge in more serious cases across the world over the last few weeks. <\/p>\n

China has been worst hit, with health centres "overwhelmed" with sick children, workers disinfecting schools, and mask-wearing reintroduced. <\/p>\n

The UK, US, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore have also seen infections.<\/p>\n

The spread has prompted other countries, like India, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand to be "on alert". <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Chinese officials have denied the alarming surge in illness is being caused by a new, unknown virus.<\/p>\n

They insist it is the result of regular seasonal illnesses in circulation as the country heads into its first\u00a0winter\u00a0without Covid restrictions.<\/p>\n

Experts generally agree it could be caused by more than one illness, including RSV,\u00a0flu\u00a0or\u00a0bacteria.<\/p>\n

China had some of the harshest lockdown restrictions in the world during the\u00a0pandemic, and kept them going for much longer than almost any other country.<\/p>\n

This means many children\u2019s immunity to seasonal illnesses is much lower than it would otherwise have been, making them more at risk of severe symptoms.<\/p>\n

Julie urged mums and dads to get medical help as soon as their little ones show signs of sickness.<\/p>\n

She said: "My advice to you, do not wait to take your kid in. <\/p>\n

"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.<\/p>\n

"He's still not better. I don't know what's supposed to fix this.<\/p>\n

"I'm putting my kids back in masks for schools. It sucks."<\/p>\n

Julie later told FOX2 Detroit Joel was thankfully back at home recovering. <\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

What is pneumonia and what are the symptoms?<\/h3>\n

PNEUMONIA is inflammation of the lungs, usually caused by an infection.<\/p>\n

This includes Covid, flu and RSV.<\/p>\n

The most common symptoms include:<\/p>\n