1 in 2 people walk down the street wearing masks in Beijing, China, February 15, 2023. Photo: Archive/Mark Schiefelbein/AP People walk down the street wearing masks in Beijing, China, on February 15, 2023. Photo: Archive/Mark Schiefelbein/AP
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday (22) that it had asked Chinese authorities for “detailed information” on reports of an outbreak of pneumonia in children.
Cases reported in various cities in China prompted a major surveillance program run by the International Society for Infectious Diseases to issue an alert expressing “concern” and also calling for “definitive information” on the extent of the disease.
As of the last update of this report, there were no reports of deaths, but an abrupt increase in hospitalizations of children in the Beijing and Liaoning areas, 800 km away.
According to the WHO, the increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases in China was reported by the National Health Commission on the 13th. Local authorities have already linked the increase to the lifting of restrictions against Covid19 and the increase in the spread of infectious agents known diseases, such as the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARSCoV2, among others.
According to the WHO, media outlets and the International Society for Infectious Diseases’ Emerging Disease Surveillance Program (ProMED) have reported “clusters” of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.
Clusters are groupings of similar cases of disease in a specific geographic region and time period.
“It is not clear whether these are related to the general increase in respiratory infections previously reported by Chinese authorities or whether they are separate events,” the WHO says.
The organization says that this Wednesday (22) it “requested, through the International Health Regulations mechanism, additional epidemiological and clinical information as well as laboratory results of these clusters reported in children”.
“Since midOctober, northern China has reported an increase in flulike illnesses compared to the same period last year. “China has systems in place to collect information on trends in influenza, influenzalike illness, RSV and SARSCoV2 and reports to platforms such as the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System,” the WHO said.
2 of 2 Report from FTV News, a Taiwanese news channel, quoted in an alert sent by ProMED. Photo: Reproduction report from FTV News, a Taiwanese news agency, quoted in an alert sent by ProMED. — Photo: Reproduction
The alert sent on Tuesday (21) by the International Society of Infectious Diseases’ ProMED system summarizes a report published on the website FTV News, a Taiwanese news agency. In addition to the summary, ProMED presents commentary from Dan Silver, ProMED rapporteur, who says it is too early to link the scenario to the emergence of another pandemic.
“(According to reports) there has been a widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory disease in several areas of China, as Beijing and Liaoning are nearly 800 km apart. It is unclear when this outbreak began as it would be unusual for so many children to be affected.” “The report does not mention that adults were affected, suggesting some exposure in schools. ProMED awaits more definitive information on the etiology and extent of this worrying disease in China,” wrote the rapporteur.
Global health monitoring
In an interview with g1Luana Araújo, infectious disease specialist, recalls that in the past, ProMED was responsible for sharing initial information about the Ebola and COVID outbreaks before we even had official information.
“It plays the role of observation and information sharing, highlighting concerns on the sidelines when observing situations that we need help with, or alerting the rest of the community,” explains Luana.
The infectious disease specialist says that despite monitoring, the warning is not a cause for panic or immediate concern about a new pandemic. “(The information) is minimal so far. No etiological confirmation, just explanations,” warns Luana. “Indeed, it is time to reaffirm what we believe is valid and valuable for infectious diseases in general: the triad of hand hygiene, vaccination and information will never be overestimated.”
The expert recalls that several factors could be related to the outbreak. “Regarding the etiological agent (virus that causes the disease), it is known that we are currently experiencing an increase in circulation and some changes in the patterns of this circulation of various pathogens largely due to the enforced isolation in the critical period of the pandemic,” he analyzes Luana.
“In these cases in China, we are not talking about deaths. We’re talking about an increase in hospitalizations. “This is crucial because it gives us clues about the behavior of these pathogens: are they preventable through vaccination (and is this population vaccinated? (reducing the likelihood of a tragic outcome?) or are they really selflimiting?” asks the specialist.