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Cases of respiratory illnesses among young people in northern China have surged in recent weeks, but this will be the beginning of a new pandemic, according to the World Health Organization.
The WHO has been tracking an increase in respiratory illnesses among young people in northern China since mid-October. At a press conference held on Nov. 13, the Chinese health government attributed the rise in respiratory illnesses across the country, mainly among young people, to the lifting of the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 restrictions, which necessarily ended in December 2022, and the flow of known pathogens such as influenza, mycoplasma. pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2. The WHO said Wednesday it was unclear whether these were separate events.
Fears that it could simply be a new pandemic were raised on Nov. 21, when ProMED, an infectious disease alert system, reported “reported cases of undiagnosed pneumonia in children” in parts of China and hospitals were overwhelmed.
However, after requesting detailed data from Chinese authorities, the WHO said no new pathogens had been detected or had not been detected.
Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, told STAT in an interview on Friday that the increase reflects a higher wave of cases, discrete clusters that would be more revealing. of a new virus.
“You hear ‘undiagnosed. ‘ People think, well, that means they had to exclude everything else, so it’s probably new. You hear “groups,” which means there are other people connected in the area and time. “Children” – which is alarming – “with ‘pneumonia’, indicating a point of severity. And you hear “China. ” So I think a lot of other people were immediately drawn to the beginning of the Covid pandemic and thought, ‘Oh my God, not yet. ‘”
She gave two reasons why this outbreak is not the new COVID.
In a conference call with the WHO on Thursday, the Chinese government presented evidence suggesting the outbreak is caused in part by what is known as an immune deficiency, STAT reported.
An immunodeficiency is the idea that lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID have also particularly reduced the transmission of other common viruses and bacteria, such as influenza and RSV. During this period, children who had never been exposed to these microbes developed few immune defenses against them. So when things got back to normal and circulated again, more young people were at risk of getting sick.
Van Kerkhove told the outlet that he supports this theory. “It’s predictable. That’s what most countries faced a year or two ago,” he said.
François Balloux, director of UCL’s Institute of Genetics, agreed: “China is probably experiencing a first wave of respiratory infections in the formative years, as this is the first winter after a long lockdown, which should have especially reduced the flow of breathing. “insects and therefore lower immunity to endemic insects,” he said.
Health correspondent Hilary Brueck reported last year, amid a surge in the number of young Americans infected by the virus, that immune deficiency or “debt” did not mean that young people’s immune systems had been weakened through lockdowns and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID. , as some claimed.
The Chinese fitness government said the outbreak of respiratory illnesses caused by known pathogens.
Van Kerkhove said that they provided the WHO with percentages of how many cases have been caused by influenza, rhinovirus, adenovirus, and mycoplasma pneumoniae, respectively.
He said they hadn’t noticed any undiagnosable patients, or a cluster of undiagnosed pneumonias.
The health government has also told the WHO that they have detected new variants or subtypes of known pathogens. “It’s an indication of a new pathogen,” he said.
His point of view is also shared by other public fitness experts. An organization of biosafety experts from UNSW Sydney, Australia, wrote in The Conversation on Monday: “There is no indication that the existing scenario in China is a new pandemic, but we deserve to identify and pay attention to undiagnosed pneumonia outbreaks. Give us the most productive chance to save you from the next pandemic. “