- Northern China has reported an increase in “influenza-like illness” since mid-October when compared to the same period in the previous three years, according to the WHO.
- Amid Reports of Mysterious Pneumonia Outbreak in China WHO has made an official request to China for detailed information.
- The World Health Organization has asked China for more data on respiratory illness spreading in the north of the country, urging the Chinese to take steps to reduce the risk of infection.
- Taiwanese News reported that hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning have been struggling with an influx of children sick with pneumonia.
- According to experts more information is needed to assess the situation as it could be a new outbreak of walking pneumonia or a surge in respiratory diseases
China has reported an outbreak of influenza-like illness mostly among children prompting the World Health Organization to seek more details from the country about the mysterious outbreak. According to reports, Chinese hospitals are “overwhelmed with sick children” who have symptoms of respiratory illness. WHO said Chinese authorities from the National Health Commission held a press conference on November 12 and reported an increase in respiratory diseases in the country. They attributed this to the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions.
WHO has sought additional information on recent trends in the circulation of known pathogens, including influenza, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that gives rise to COVID-19), RSV affecting infants and Mycoplasma pneumonia, as well as on the degree of overcrowding in the health system, the statement added.
Beijing’s National Health Commission (NHC) told reporters last week that the respiratory illness spike was due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens, including influenza and common bacterial infections that affect children.
China’s capital has “entered a high incidence season of respiratory infectious diseases”, Wang Quanyi, deputy director and chief epidemiological expert at the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state-run outlet Beijing News on Wednesday.
ProMed, which is a publicly available surveillance system conducting global reporting of infectious disease outbreaks, issued an alert over the “undiagnosed pneumonia” in children. It alerted about SARs-CoV-2 in December 2019 long before the pandemic swept the world. Taiwanese News reported that hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning have been struggling with an influx of children sick with pneumonia.
Since Beijing and Lianoning are 800km apart, the mysterious pneumonia is not being seen as a local outbreak. While not much is known about the outbreak, people cited by FTV said the sick children do not have any symptoms or cough. But they have a high temperature and pulmonary nodules.
Some teachers have also been infected, reportedly as the outbreaks have majorly been reported in schools. Some schools have been shut. It is not known when the outbreak started. Epidemiologist Eric-Feigl-Dingh shared videos from hospitals and messages from locals in a long thread on X and broke down the situation.
According to experts, more information is needed to assess the situation as it could be a new outbreak of walking pneumonia or a surge in respiratory diseases as this is China’s first winter without stringent COVID lockdown.
(With inputs from agencies)
