In addition, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) has reported an increase in cases, as have some U. S. states. U. S. countries, such as Ohio and Massachusetts.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Dec. 1 sent the following statement to Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel: “As of today, the CDC is not seeing anything out of the ordinary related to levels of mycoplasma across the country, but we are watching it closely.”
On its website, the firm said it “is monitoring reports of an accumulation of respiratory illnesses around the world” and that “the diagnosis of pneumonia in children, as well as other respiratory illnesses, increases each year in the fall and winter. “
Outbreaks of pediatric pneumonia in several countries worry some doctors and families, but statements from public health agencies recommend there is no cause for alarm. (iStock)
The firm also noted that the number of children receiving emergency care for diagnosed pneumonia is “largely consistent with previous years” for children aged 0 to 4, with “small increases above usual levels” for children aged five. at 17 years old.
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“These increases are likely due to viruses and bacteria [which] we expect to see in respiratory illness season,” the CDC said.
The World Health Organization (WHO), too, has chalked up the outbreaks to known respiratory diseases rather than novel viruses.
“At present, Chinese hospital and surveillance systems report that clinical manifestations are due to known circulating pathogens,” the WHO said on its website.
“These increases are likely due to viruses and bacteria that we expect to see in respiratory illness season,” the CDC said on its website. (Reuters/Tami Chappell)
“Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common respiratory pathogen and a common cause of pediatric pneumonia, and is easily treated with antibiotics,” the firm also said.
“Due to the arrival of the winter season, the increasing trend in respiratory illnesses is expected; co-circulation of respiratory viruses may increase the burden on health care facilities,” it added.
Given the ongoing outbreak of pneumonia in China’s formative years, Siegel said the CDC and WHO have “frankly stated that this is a new pathogen. “
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel weighed in on the CDC’s reactions to COVID in 2020 — and to the reactions today to pneumonia in 2023. (Fox News)
“There is less of a sense of suppressing information, and the high incidence of resistant mycoplasma infection associated with the outbreak has also been clear,” he went on.
“The CDC has also done a smart job of tracking cases here and saying that there is no link and that the occurrence of mycoplasmas has not increased,” Siegel said. “They are following the scenario very closely, which turns out to be a real improvement since the beginning of 2020. “
Healthcare companies’ responses to existing pneumonia outbreaks in late 2023 were the initial firm responses to the COVID-19 virus in 2020.
“The CDC is our microbiological link to the world. It is our surveillance system. It is our eyes and ears. “
In testimony to Congress on Feb. 27, 2020, then-CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield stated that “most cases of COVID-19 in the United States have been associated with travel from China, but some person-to-person spread among close contacts of travelers has been seen.”
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He also said, “It should be noted that this virus is not spreading within American communities at this time. “
He continued: “The potential risk to global public health posed by this virus is high, but today the immediate risk to most Americans is low. The greatest threat is to others who have recently traveled to China or been exposed to COVID. -19. ”
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon and longevity expert, noted that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, before the virus entered the U. S. , “the CDC was silent on its explicit details. “
Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon and longevity expert, noted that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, before the virus entered the U. S. , the virus was in the U. S. According to the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, “the CDC was silent on its explicit details. “
“To mitigate the risk of a similar occurrence — and the United States again being caught off-guard — Congress submitted a battery of questions to the CDC demanding answers about the recent pneumonia outbreak in China,” Osborn told Fox News Digital. “The agency has yet to respond.”
“It is widely known that China thwarted international efforts, including efforts by the CDC, to respond to the burgeoning COVID-19 crisis as it began to unfold in China.”
In a Nov. 29 letter from the U.S. Committee on Energy and Commerce to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Mandy Cohen, committee chairs wrote the following: “The Centers for Disease Control and Protection’s (CDC) failure to communicate accurate information in real-time during the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined public trust in the agency. If the CDC is to regain credibility with the American people, it must be transparent and forthcoming with the information it has on public health threats facing our nation.”
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“It is well known that China frustrated foreign efforts, coupled with those of the CDC, to respond to the emerging COVID-19 crisis when it began to spread in China. ”
“It would be an abdication of the CDC’s duty to the American people if it allowed China to repeat its misdeeds during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American people do not have to rely on the irresponsible and unreliable WHO for information about Chinese public health. threats. “
Chinese hospitals have reportedly been “overwhelmed with children in poor health” as a result of today’s pneumonia outbreak, according to ProMED, the virtual global disease surveillance system. (iStock)
Siegel pointed out that with COVID, “the CDC was caught flat-footed, in large part because China was suppressing crucial public health information and CDC was not allowed to have ‘boots on the ground’ to investigate, which they repeatedly requested through CDC Director Robert Redfield.”
He also said: “Very early they put the design of the virus, but nothing more. »
Adding to the problem, Siegel noted, was that the World Health Organization (WHO) called COVID a “regional problem only.”
A doctor administers tests for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a temporary testing center in Sydney, Australia, on July 30, 2020. (REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo)
While initial knowledge suggests that pneumonia outbreaks are due to known viruses (including RSV, mycoplasma, and other bloodless viruses), doctors and health authorities are demanding definitive answers.
“The CDC wants to drill down on the main points and put political pressure on China to better prepare the United States for a potential pandemic,” Osborn said. “Early caution is essential. “
“The CDC is our microbiologic liaison to the world. It is our surveillance system. It is our eyes and ears,” he went on.
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“We depend on their duty to the country through excessive transparency. “
As Osborn noted, “It’s always more productive to err on the side of caution and alert the country as soon as possible to a potential problem or threat with another COVID-19. “
Fox News Digital reached out to the CDC for comment.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews/health.
Melissa Rudy is a senior fitness editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital.