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The WHO had requested detailed data on an increase in respiratory illnesses among young people in China. Chinese insights suggest that this increase is due to known bacteria and viruses.
By Vivian Wang
The World Health Organization said China had shared knowledge about a recent surge in respiratory illnesses among children, a day after the company said it was seeking data on the option of unrelated pneumonia cases. diagnosed in this country.
Chinese data suggests that “no new or rare pathogens have been detected,” according to a WHO report. The data, which included lab results from swollen children, implied that the buildup in some cases was the result of known viruses and bacteria, such as influenza and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacterium that often causes mild illness.
Children’s hospital admissions have increased since May, as have outpatient visits, but hospitals have been able to cope with the increase, China told the global fitness agency.
The WHO requested data after Chinese news reports and social media posts indicated a notable increase in the number of young people in poor health in recent weeks. Parents have reported long queues, 8 hours or more, at youth hospitals. China’s National Health Commission has declared reports of overcrowding.
Some of those reports also caught the attention this week of members of ProMED, a disease tracker conducted through the International Society for Infectious Diseases that fitness officials monitor for early warnings of potential emerging diseases.
China’s transparency in reporting outbreaks has come under global scrutiny, after covering up the first cases of the SARS virus in 2003 and the virus that caused the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Earlier this year, the company rebuked to the Chinese government for hiding knowledge that the The firm said could shed light on the origins of the coronavirus.
The WHO released its formal request for information a day after a ProMED member shared a report from Taiwan about a slight increase in the number of young people with health problems in Beijing and Liaoning, a province in northeastern China. In the past, the Chinese government had publicly declared an increase in respiratory illnesses among young people, but the WHO said at the time it was unclear whether the increase was due to known pathogens.
“One of the key objectives is to identify whether there were ‘clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia’ in Beijing and Liaoning, as discussed in the media,” the WHO said,” the statement said.
The WHO said the build-up of infections in China occurred earlier than traditionally expected in the season, but is “not unexpected” given that it is the first winter since China lifted strict coronavirus restrictions it imposed in 2020. Other countries saw similar accumulations in other diseases after the uprising. your Covid checks.
Vivian Wang is a China correspondent founded in Beijing, where she writes about how the country’s global rise and ambitions are shaping the lives of its people. Learn more about Vivian Wang
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