Nov. 24 (UPI) — China said there are no “unusual or novel pathogens” responsible for an uptick in child pneumonia cases, the World Health Organization reported. Local media reports say Beijing hospitals have been overwhelmed with cases of adolescents with respiratory illnesses in recent days.
Chinese health officials say the increase in flu-like illnesses is likely related to the lifting of Covid restrictions, but the WHO has requested more data from Chinese health officials and from ProMed – a global outbreak surveillance system – on the “clusters of un-diagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.”
After the WHO’s request, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said in an article by the state-run Xinhua news agency that they were paying close attention to the diagnosis and care of children with respiratory illnesses.
It is not out of the ordinary for the WHO to ask countries for more information about a cluster of illnesses, and the agency does so almost daily. They then analyze the information to determine if an illness outbreak has the potential to become a public health emergency of international concern.
“A key purpose was to identify whether there have been ‘clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia’ in Beijing and Liaoning as referred to in media reports,” the WHO statement said.
The results of lab tests from infected Chinese children in the recent surge in cases showed the rise in cases was a result of commonly known viruses and bacteria, such as influenza and mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacterium that usually causes mild illness.
Hospital admissions of children had been on the rise since May, but they had been able to handle the uptick, Chinese health officials said.
Parents reported overcrowding at municipal children’s hospitals and described long lines, sometimes of eight hours or more. China’s National Health Commission acknowledged the overcrowding concerns.
In light of the increase in respiratory illnesses among juveniles, health officials recommended Chinese residents get vaccinated for the flu and for Covid, and that they wear masks.
Northern China has reported an “increase in influenza-like illness” beginning in October compared to the same period over the past three years, according to the WHO.
“Some of these increases are earlier in the season than historically experienced, but not unexpected given the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, as similarly experienced in other countries,” the WHO said.
Pneumonia is a term used to describe an infection and inflammation of the lungs which can be caused by different viruses, bacteria or fungi.
The WHO said it is “closely monitoring the situation and is in close contact with national authorities in China”.
other experts say there is too little information available to determine the severity of the outbreak and whether it has the potential to develop into a crisis. Professor Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia said at this point it is even difficult to tell what’s causing the respiratory infections, but that there was no immediate cause for alarm.
“Overall, this does not sound to me like an epidemic due to a novel [new] virus,” Hunter said. “If it was, I would expect to see many more infections in adults. The few infections reported in adults suggest existing immunity from a prior exposure.”