'Mystery' Respiratory Illness Reportedly Surging Around The World?!
Science/Medical/Technology
Friday 1st, December 2023
A recent rise has been seen in a respiratory illness in China which is bracing itself for it's full winter season since lifting strict Covid-19 restrictions in December 2022.
The spike in the respiratory illness was brought to light after the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked China for more information, referencing a report by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProdMED) on reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.
There have been unconfirmed photos posted on social media of children receiving intravenous drips in hospital. Further to these photos there have been videos of crowded hospitals increasing concerns of pressure on the healthcare system, these videos have reported to have been posted by media in cities like Xian.
The National Health Commission told a news conference on 13th of November that there was an increase in the incidences of respiratory disease, without providing any further details.
WHO China responded by telling Reuters via email,
The data suggests that the increase is linked to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in China along with the circulation of known pathogens such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children and which has circulated since May. Influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus have been in circulation since October.
There have been spikes seen in other countries of mycoplasma pneimoniae which is causing concern.
WHO Covid-19 Technical Lead, Maria Van Kerkhove said,
5quote_s%"We're following up through our clinical networks and working with clinicians in China to better understand resistance to antibiotics, which is a problem across the world, but is a particular problem in the Western Pacific and South East Asia region,"
Further telling reporters on Wednesday that mycoplasma pneumonia was not a reportable disease to the WHO and it was on the rise for the last couple of months but now appears to be declining.
Epidemiologist and professor of community health at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Rajib Dasgupta, told Reuters in some cases there may be serious complications from infection caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae, but most people will recover without antibiotics.
Cecille Brion, the head of pediatrics department at Raffles Medical Group Beijing said,
Ms Van Kerkhove said that the rise in cases was expected,
It's being reported that doctors in China as well as experts outside of China are not too worried about the situation in China, noting that many other countries saw similar increases in respiratory diseases after easing pandemic measures.
The spike in the respiratory illness was brought to light after the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked China for more information, referencing a report by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProdMED) on reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.
There have been unconfirmed photos posted on social media of children receiving intravenous drips in hospital. Further to these photos there have been videos of crowded hospitals increasing concerns of pressure on the healthcare system, these videos have reported to have been posted by media in cities like Xian.
The National Health Commission told a news conference on 13th of November that there was an increase in the incidences of respiratory disease, without providing any further details.
WHO China responded by telling Reuters via email,
"Chinese health authorities advised that the current numbers they are observing is not greater than the peak in the most recent cold season prior to the Covid-19 pandemic."
The data suggests that the increase is linked to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in China along with the circulation of known pathogens such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children and which has circulated since May. Influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus have been in circulation since October.
There have been spikes seen in other countries of mycoplasma pneimoniae which is causing concern.
WHO Covid-19 Technical Lead, Maria Van Kerkhove said,
5quote_s%"We're following up through our clinical networks and working with clinicians in China to better understand resistance to antibiotics, which is a problem across the world, but is a particular problem in the Western Pacific and South East Asia region,"
Further telling reporters on Wednesday that mycoplasma pneumonia was not a reportable disease to the WHO and it was on the rise for the last couple of months but now appears to be declining.
Epidemiologist and professor of community health at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, Rajib Dasgupta, told Reuters in some cases there may be serious complications from infection caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae, but most people will recover without antibiotics.
Cecille Brion, the head of pediatrics department at Raffles Medical Group Beijing said,
"The cases that we are seeing is nothing unusual at the moment, because it's still the same cough, colds, fever presentation, and the good thing about it is that it's actually treatable,"
Ms Van Kerkhove said that the rise in cases was expected,
"We are seeing, in general, an increase in respiratory infections around the world. We do tend to see increases in children because they're the school-aged children, and in the northern hemisphere it's the autumn already. We're entering the winter months,"
It's being reported that doctors in China as well as experts outside of China are not too worried about the situation in China, noting that many other countries saw similar increases in respiratory diseases after easing pandemic measures.
