What are these “respiratory diseases” that are on the rise in northern China, especially among children? Almost four years after the first signs of Covid, Beijing is talking about already known viruses and the first cold season since the end of pandemic restrictions. Despite uncertainties, the WHO and experts do not currently believe there is a new virus.
• Also read: WHO is concerned about the increase in respiratory diseases in China
• Also read: China reports no “new or unusual pathogens” related to respiratory diseases
What kind of situation?
On November 13, Chinese authorities reported an increase in respiratory illnesses, particularly among children. They attributed this to the lifting of anti-Covid restrictions, the beginning of the cold season and the spread of known pathogens (flu virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria, RSV that causes bronchiolitis, SARS-CoV-2).
And on Monday, the ProMED surveillance system – the first signal in late 2019 about the mysterious pneumonia that will turn out to be Covid-19 – warned of hospitals “overcrowded” with sick children with an unknown respiratory infection. Some cases of adults, particularly teachers, were mentioned.
An outbreak was reported mainly in Beijing and cities such as Liaoning (northeast).
What symptoms have been reported? Fever, pneumonia without cough, sometimes pulmonary nodules – nodules in the lungs due to infection, detected by X-rays or CT scans. No deaths were reported.
In Beijing, at the Pediatric Institute hospital on Thursday, AFP journalists saw a crowd of parents and children. Some parents mentioned Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections, a known cause of pneumonia in children, being treated with antibiotics.
What do China and the WHO say?
Nearly four years after a mysterious “viral pneumonia” emerged in China, the news has revived fears of a possible new pandemic. Reports on social networks fear “a new virus from China” or “a new Covid”.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which has repeatedly criticized Beijing for its lack of transparency over the pandemic and even its delayed response to Covid, has requested more information about the increase in respiratory infections among children.
China responded on Thursday that “no unusual or new pathogens were detected” but reported “an increase in outpatient visits and hospitalizations of children due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae since May and since October due to RSV, adenoviruses and influenza.” to a WHO press release.
According to the WHO, Beijing has a surveillance system for influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections such as influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2. And the country began increased surveillance of various respiratory diseases in mid-October, including Mycoplasma pneumoniae for the first time.
For the WHO, “we have little detailed information to fully characterize the overall risk of these cases of respiratory disease in children,” but as “the beginning of the winter season, we expect an increasing trend in respiratory disease.”
What do the experts think?
As of this writing, several experts have pointed to the impact of the first winter since the end of Covid restrictions in China and a lack of immunization of children as likely causes for the rise in infections.
“As China experienced a much longer and stricter lockdown than other countries, larger waves of ‘lockdown exits’ were expected there,” Professor François Balloux from the University College of London told the Science UK Media Center (SMC). “As long as there are no new indications, there is no reason to suspect the emergence of a new pathogen.”
There is “too little information to make a definitive assessment,” but what we know “does not indicate an epidemic caused by a new virus, otherwise there would be many more infections in adults,” says Paul Hunter from Britain’s University of East Anglia . “The few infections reported in adults suggest that immunity (general editor’s note) results from prior exposure.”
Catherine Bennett of Australia’s Deakin University notes that “young school children (currently) in China have lived up to half of their lives without the usual exposure to common pathogens and therefore without the same level of immunity.”
What recommendations?
“Measures to reduce the risk of a respiratory disease” are recommended by the WHO: vaccination, distance from sick people, isolation if symptoms, masks and, if necessary, tests.
“Based on available information,” “no specific measures” are recommended for travelers traveling to China, nor travel or trade restrictions, the WHO adds.