China has claimed that a widespread outbreak of pneumonia mainly affecting children was not the result of a new virus.
The World Health Organisation said that it had seen evidence provided by China that the upsurge in pneumonia was due to normal seasonal infections that were surging after the country’s brutal COVID-19 lockdowns were lifted.
Chinese officials say the new outbreak – which has pushed some hospitals to the brink – was caused by common illnesses including mycoplasma pneumonia, RSV, adenovirus and the flu.
However, in the past, Beijing has not been quick to alert the world to the spread of new diseases within China’s borders.
In 2003, the country covered up an outbreak of SARS while at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, Beijing failed to fully alert the world of the virus’s spread for months. The WHO is calling for China’s full cooperation on this latest outbreak.
Earlier this week, Chinese media reported that hospitals in Beijing and in Liaoning – around 500 miles northeast of the capital – were “overwhelmed with sick children” who had symptoms including inflammation of the lungs and high fever but no cough.
ProMed – a disease monitoring system that sounded the alarm over a mysterious virus spreading in Wuhan ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 – has sent out an alert over the situation in northeastern China.
The WHO said that it made an official request to China on Wednesday to obtain laboratory tests from known cases and data concerning the trends of respiratory illnesses spreading in the country.
The international health organisation also held talks with authorities from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Beijing’s Children’s Hospital on Thursday.
Don’t miss… Everything we know so far as China in grips of new respiratory illness[REPORT]
The symptoms of Respiratory Syncytial Virus
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
The WHO said: “Chinese authorities advised that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning, but only the aforementioned general increase in respiratory illnesses due to multiple known pathogens.
“They further stated that the rise in respiratory illness has not resulted in patient loads exceeding hospital capacities.”
However, local media reported that hospitals were being “overwhelmed” by the spike in pneumonia cases. The crisis comes as China enters its first winter without strict COVID-19 lockdowns.
Other countries, including the UK and US, saw spikes in cases of infections like RSV and flu when lockdown measures were lifted.
Source: Read Full Article