Many schools in Beijing and Liaoning are already canceling courses Wu Hong / EFEEPA April 14, 2020
ProMed (Emerging Disease Monitoring Program) released a report on Tuesday evening (21) about a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that is overwhelming children’s hospitals in some cities across the country. Chinaalso in the capital Beijing, triggering warnings of a new epidemic.
“This report indicates 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 so quickly. The report does not mention which adults were affected, suggesting some exposure in schools. ProMed awaits more definitive information on the etiology and extent of this worrisome disease in China,” the document said.
FTV News, a Taiwanese broadcaster, heard yesterday morning from a resident of Beijing, a city where a children’s hospital was overcrowded.
“Many, many are hospitalized. You don’t cough or have any symptoms. You just have a high fever.” [febre] and many develop lung nodules,” reported the citizen, identified only as Wei.
Another resident of the Chinese capital said parents were not allowed to report cases in schools. If children have symptoms such as fever, cold and cough, they will be hospitalized immediately.
The situation at Dalian Children’s Hospital in Liaoning Province, where dozens of children received intravenous medication, is also worrying.
“The patients have to wait in line for two hours,” an employee there told the Taiwanese broadcaster.
Many schools in these locations have already canceled classes, while others are considering temporarily suspending them.
So far, neither the National Health Commission nor the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a statement on the outbreak.
In addition to Marburg: Learn more about other viruses that cause fatal bleeding
Recently the Marburg virus made headlines around the world when it sparked an outbreak in Equatorial Guinea. At least 11 people have already died in the African country victims of this pathogen, which has a mortality rate of around 88%. Marburg is a filovirus whose six Ebola virus species are the only known species in the same family. The natural reservoir is fruiteating bats in Africa. It can be transmitted to primates and humans. Patients infected with Marburg virus initially suffer from fever, chills, headache and muscle pain, but the condition progresses and leads to vomiting and diarrhea, yellowish skin, inflammation in the pancreas, liver failure, delirium, bleeding, etc. Dysfunction several organs
Ebola virusThe Ebola virus is a “cousin” of Marburg. Approximately 50% of patients die. The disease is transmitted through blood or body fluids (urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, amniotic fluid and semen) of an infected person, but also through contact with objects such as bedding. As in Marburg, the natural reservoir of the virus is flying foxes (which feed on fruit), which are found in some African countries.
Patients usually have a socalled “dry” phase with fever, body aches and fatigue, which is preceded by a “wet” phase with diarrhea and vomiting. Many may experience skin rashes, unexplained bleeding, and bruising. There is currently an approved vaccine against Ebola
Thrush virusBetween 2019 and 2020, there were two cases of Brazilian hemorrhagic fever; The two patients, aged 52 and 63, died a few days after symptoms such as fever, muscle and abdominal pain, nausea and exhaustion appeared. The illnesses led to bleeding, kidney failure and loss of consciousness. The disease is transmitted by the Sabiá virus, a mammalian virus that was first identified in the São Paulo metropolitan area in 1990. Transmission occurs by inhaling or swallowing the urine or feces of infected wild rodents. The small number of cases means that researchers still know little about further details about Brazilian hemorrhagic fever.
Lassa virusThe Lassa virus infects between 100,000 and 300,000 people annually in West African countries, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria. However, the mortality rate is not considered high it is around 1%. The natural reservoir of Lassa virus is a mouse, which is called a multimammal. The virus belongs to the same genus as Sabiá. Transmission to humans usually occurs through contact with secretions from these animals, such as feces and urine, or through consumption of contaminated food.
Lassa fever, as the disease of those infected is called, manifests itself in most patients in the form of a mild fever, general malaise, weakness and headache. About 20% of people infected with the Lassa virus may experience complications such as bleeding from the gums, nose, and eyes, as well as difficulty breathing, chest and back pain, and shock. Due to multiple organ failure, death can occur within two weeks of symptoms appearing. The most common sequela is deafness
Yellow feverAnother disease that can cause bleeding and death is yellow fever, which is caused by a flavavirus transmitted by mosquitoes in South America and subSaharan Africa. While most cases are asymptomatic, about 15% of people develop severe forms of the disease, which have a mortality rate of 30% to 60%, depending on the location of the outbreak. Symptoms include high fever, yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice). , bleeding, shock and organ failure. The most effective prevention against yellow fever is vaccination
Dengue feverThe dengue virus which, like yellow fever, is a flavavirus can, in more serious cases, cause the socalled dengue hemorrhagic fever, which occurs mainly in children under 10 years of age and in places where the disease is endemic This is the case in Brazil. In addition to the classic initial symptoms of dengue fever (headache, body aches, fever, fatigue, etc.), patients with severe symptoms may experience vomiting, liver swelling, pleural effusion, ascites (accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity), etc. Bleeding.