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This false claim emerged after the World Health Organization (WHO) dubbed the newest variant of Covid-19 as JN. 1. It has been spreading globally since late October, the global fitness organization announced on Dec. 18 (link archived).
Current evidence indicates that the new variant is unlikely to put pressure on public fitness systems, but the WHO has warned that respiratory illnesses could worsen during the winter due to the virus.
In China, seven cases of JN. 1 infection were detected as of December 10, 2023, according to state media (link archived).
The country has also noticed an increase in respiratory illnesses this winter, adding an outbreak of mycoplasma pneumonia that mainly affects children.
This came about a year after the country eased its Covid-19 restrictions in December 2022, after three years of a zero-Covid policy, followed by a wave of infections (archived link).
The false claim has been shared elsewhere on X including here, here and here, as well as on other social media platforms such as Gettr and Facebook.
But medical experts refute that claim, telling AFP there is no evidence that the outbreak is due to a new strain of Covid-19.
Jin Dongyan, a professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Biomedical Sciences, told AFP on December 18 that mycoplasma pneumonia is transmitted through bacteria, while Covid-19 is a virus.
“Mycoplasma pneumonia is caused by a bacterium known as mycoplasma pneumoniae. Covid-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” he said in an email (archived links here and here).
He added that there was nothing unusual about the mycoplasma pneumonia outbreak in China and that similar outbreaks had been reported in other countries.
“It’s drastically different from outbreaks of post-pandemic respiratory infections in other parts of the world,” he said.
The WHO says the Chinese government has provided information indicating that the accumulation of respiratory illnesses is due to the accumulation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria, as well as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus, influenza, and pre-existing strains of Covid-19. 19 (archived link).
RSV and adenovirus are not unusual respiratory infections that cause mild cold-like symptoms, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (links archived here and here).
The WHO cited data provided through the Chinese government and said no pathogens or symptoms had been recorded in the country.
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia in England, told AFP that the news looks like “an outbreak due to a new virus. “
“If that were the case, I would expect to see a lot more infections in adults,” he continued.
Mycoplasma pneumonia was circulating long before Covid-19 was first detected in late 2019, according to the CDC (link archived).
According to an article in The Lancet, mycoplasma pneumonia infections occur on an annual basis across the globe, with epidemics every few years. The most recent epidemic took place in late 2019 and early 2020 predominantly in Europe and Asia (archived link).
Jin said the most recent outbreak in China may simply be due to a combination of factors, such as a lack of immunity among children, increased testing and the arrival of winter.
Francois Balloux, a professor at University College London, said severe restrictions imposed by China to combat Covid-19 in recent years had led to waning immunity to a range of diseases.
“As China has had a much longer and harsher lockdown than virtually any other country in the world, it was expected that these waves of ‘coming out of lockdown’ could be significant in China,” he told AFP.
Unless there is new evidence to the contrary, “there is no explanation for suspecting the emergence of a new pathogen,” Balloux added.
In the past, AFP has debunked other incorrect information similar to mycoplasma pneumonia in reports here and here.