China tells WHO that known germs, not a new virus like COVID-19, are causing pneumonia in children

China’s fitness government told the World Health Organization that the source of an outbreak of respiratory illnesses among young people was known pathogens, after reports of a buildup of the disease led to speculations that a new virus could be the cause.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Beijing Children’s Hospital told the WHO on Thursday that there had been an increase in outpatient visits and hospitalizations due to the spread of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the syncytial breathing virus, adenovirus and influenza. The build-up came earlier than traditionally experienced, but is not unforeseen given the lifting of Covid-related restrictions, the WHO said in a teleconference between fitness officials. Fitness.

Read more: What We Know About the Pneumonia Outbreak in China’s Formative Years

The reaction came after the WHO this week asked China for more data on following warning reports of undiagnosed pneumonia in children’s hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning and elsewhere.

Local Chinese media has reported a steady rise in mycoplasma infections among kindergarten and primary school children. While the germ tends to cause only mild colds in older children and adults with physically strong immune systems, young children are vulnerable to developing pneumonia. , whose symptoms last for weeks.

Media reports have shown crowded waiting rooms at hospitals, where worried parents wait up to seven hours for their children to see a doctor. The National Health Commission is increasing the capacity of local clinics to treat infections and identify serious ailments in a bid to ease the strain. in some top-tier hospitals, the official Xinhua news firm reported on Thursday, citing an NHC official it did not identify.

Read more: The germ that affected China’s first post-lockdown winter

On Friday, the Chinese government warned that the country could see several respiratory pathogens converging into a primary outbreak between winter and spring. Influenza and mycoplasma infections have been increasing since October, although a rebound in Covid cases is also possible, he said. reported the CCTV station.

The widespread spread of mycoplasma is of particular concern, as many young people do not appear to respond to azithromycin, which is used to treat the infection. In young Chinese, resistance to antibiotics and other antibiotics in the same class is more than 80 percent, according to the report. The highest in the world, Yin Yudong, an infectious disease doctor in Chaoyang, told Beijing News earlier this month.

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