The flu and other known pathogens are to blame for an increase in respiratory illnesses across China that has drawn the attention of the World Health Organisation, according to the country’s health Ministry.
According to a National Health Commission spokesperson, recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus, and bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumonia, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections
.As the country faces a wave of respiratory illnesses in its first full winter since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the ministry urged local governments to open more fever clinics and promote vaccinations among children and the elderly.
“Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours, and increase the supply of medicines,” Mi Feng, a spokesman for the ministry, said. He advised people to wear masks and urged local authorities to focus on preventing illness spread in congested areas such as schools and nursing homes.
The WHO formally requested information from China earlier this week regarding a potentially concerning increase in respiratory illnesses and clusters of pneumonia in children, as mentioned in several media reports and by a global infectious disease monitoring service. Typically, the emergence of new flu strains or other viruses capable of causing pandemics begins with undetected clusters of respiratory illness. SARS and COVID-19 were both first identified as unusual types of pneumonia.
Chinese authorities blamed the rise in respiratory diseases earlier this month on the lifting of COVID-19 lock-down restrictions. When pandemic restrictions were lifted in other countries, respiratory diseases such as RSV increased.
The WHO stated that Chinese health officials provided the requested data during a teleconference on Thursday. Since October, there has been an increase in pediatrics’s hospital admissions due to diseases such as bacterial infection, RSV, influenza, and common cold viruses.According to the WHO, Chinese officials maintained that the increase in patients had not overburdened the country’s hospitals.
It is unusual for the U.N. The health agency will publicly request more detailed information from countries, which is unusual because such requests are typically made internally. WHO stated that it had requested additional data from China through an international legal mechanism.According to internal Chinese reports, the outbreaks have overwhelmed some hospitals in northern China, including Beijing, and health officials have asked the public to bring children with less severe symptoms to clinics and other facilities.
According to WHO, there is currently insufficient information to properly assess the risk of these reported cases of respiratory illness in children.
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