A respiratory an infection that begins in China, then spreads in Europe and results in a surge in hospital admissions. Sounds acquainted?

But it isn't COVID this time. It's a bacterium known as mycoplasma pneumoniae that is behind lots of the circumstances. And it is kids who're notably affected.

So what is going on on?

The bug often causes comparatively delicate signs. It's even known as "walking pneumonia".

But in lots of nations, there's been a spike of extra critical infections.

Paediatric clinics in China have been overwhelmed, as my colleague Helen-Ann Smith has reported.

Meanwhile in Denmark, the State Serum Institute says charges are at epidemic ranges, with 541 circumstances final week, greater than thrice the quantity in the midst of October.

And within the Netherlands, circumstances have risen sharply since August, with charges already twice as excessive as the height final winter.

The rise in circumstances in so many nations, all on the identical time, doesn't suggest we're within the foothills of a brand new pandemic.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is available in waves each few years, infecting kids with no immunity.

And immunity will probably be low proper now.

During the COVID lockdowns, kids have been shielded from infections which might be usually a ceremony of passage, in order that they've constructed up what scientists name an 'immunity debt'.

That can result in extra critical infections.

In the UK, it resulted in a sharp rise in invasive Group A Strep last winter. Tragically some kids died.

And now it is a pneumonia bug in different nations.

The World Health Organization has asked Chinese authorities for more information on the state of affairs in its hospitals.

But it is a precaution, not a cause for alarm.

Post-COVID, it is smart to keep watch over any sudden rise in infections.