Name: Q&A: Why China’s ‘White Lung’ Phenomenon Is Unique
Uploaded: 2023-01-07T16:24:09.000Z
Description: After covering the story on Jan. 4, we'd like to take a minute to answer a question from our viewers about the so-called "white lung" phenomenon in China.

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After covering the story on Jan. 4, we'd like to take a minute to answer a question from our viewers about the so-called "white lung" phenomenon in China.

“White lung" refers to how some COVID-19 patients’ lungs turn partially white on CT scans. The white appearance indicates fluid and infection in the lungs. Healthy lungs should appear black on CT scans.

Some viewers commented that it's a common phenomenon with lung infections, and is nothing special. But there are a few differences worth noting about the current issue in China.

First, let's look back on 2020 when the COVID-19 virus first started spreading widely in China's Wuhan city. Many patients started turning up with “white lung."

Soon, it was discovered that common pneumonia or lung infections were not the cause. Instead, it was a new kind of pneumonia that existing medicine struggled to treat. The new disease caused massive deaths in the city.

As the COVID-19 virus developed outside China over the past three years, it's been getting less lethal. Unlike earlier variants, the latest strain, known as Omicron, rarely attacks the lungs.

But now, doctors across China have been reporting the "white lung" phenomenon again, sometimes in as much as 20 percent of their patients. Some have reportedly died. At the same time, funeral homes across the country have been overcrowded.

These issues do not line up with the experiences other countries have had with Omicron.

For now, the cause remains unclear as concerns rise and nations request answers from Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party has a history of concealing or underreporting health data.

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