A disturbing video has emerged showing a large group of masked patients waiting to be treated in a hospital in China amid growing concern about a surge in a mysterious respiratory illness that has hit mainly children.
The video was recently shot inside one of Beijing’s medical centers, showing hundreds of adults and children crowding a vast waiting area.
Beijing health officials and the World Health Organization insist that no new or unusual pathogens have been found in the pneumonia cases, which have been linked to an increase in the number of children infected with the virus they have avoided during two years of brutal COVID restrictions, which only recently has just been withdrawn.
Here’s what we know about the mysterious respiratory illness:
A screenshot from the video shows people in a Beijing hospital amid an increase in respiratory illnesses. Children and their parents wait in the outpatient area of a children’s hospital in Beijing on Thursday. AFP via Getty Images A man carries a sick child outside a children’s hospital in Beijing Monday. Reuters
What is causing the surge in disease?
The recent cluster of respiratory infections is caused by a combination of known viruses such as influenza, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, said a spokesman for China’s National Health Commission.
The emergence of new strains of flu or other viruses capable of triggering a pandemic usually begins with a group of undiagnosed respiratory illnesses. Both COVID-19 and SARS were first reported as unusual types of acute pneumonia.
Chinese authorities have blamed the rise in respiratory conditions on the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Other countries, including the US and the UK, also saw a surge in illnesses when pandemic-related restrictions ended a year ago.
Wu Zhiwei, director of the Public Health Research Center at Nanjing University School of Medicine, said some common respiratory infections, which usually occur in winter, did not hit China as hard during the outbreak, resulting in low immunity to these infections.
The rise in pneumonia cases in China has been linked to an increase in the number of children infected with the common virus they have avoided during the COVID-19 lockdown. Reuters
Who raised the alarm about a case of pneumonia?
China’s surge in respiratory illnesses became a global issue last week when the World Health Organization took the rare step of publicly asking China for more information, citing reports of undiagnosed pneumonia clusters in children by the Emerging Diseases Monitoring Program.
“We asked about the comparison before the epidemic. And the waves they are seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention department. “This is not an indication of a new pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago.”
China’s Communist government and the WHO have faced questions about the transparency of early reporting in the COVID outbreak, which emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019. The WHO reiterated Friday that no new or unusual pathogen had been found in the recent illness.
The WHO said Chinese health officials provided the information it requested, including data reflecting an increase in children’s hospitalizations driven by bacterial infections, RSV, influenza and the common cold virus since October.
What is China doing?
Chinese health officials are urging local authorities to open more fever clinics and promote vaccinations, as hospitals warn of long queues in Beijing and the northern province of Liaoning, where cases among children appear particularly high.
China’s health ministry advised people to wear masks and called on local authorities to focus on preventing the spread of the disease in crowded places such as schools and nursing homes.
The World Health Organization last week asked China to provide data on clusters of pneumonia in children. AFP via Getty Images Increased hospitalizations have been linked to bacterial infections, RSV, influenza and the common cold virus. AFP via Getty Images
Parents are being asked to avoid taking children with less severe symptoms to hospitals in northern China, according to local reports.
However, officials insist that the surge in cases has not burdened China’s hospitals, the WHO said, despite the spread of videos showing medical centers overflowing with patients.
What happens next?
New cases of the respiratory disease could peak in the coming weeks, according to Li Tongzeng, chief physician at the department of infectious diseases at Beijing You’an Hospital.
Chinese health officials are calling for the opening of more fever clinics and urging parents to vaccinate their children. Chinese officials and the World Health Organization insist that no new pathogen has been detected in the pneumonia case. Reuters
A second wave of cases could increase during the New Year holidays, increasing the risk of infection among vulnerable seniors during family celebrations.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
