WHO seeks answers from China about mystery outbreak of respiratory illness

[FearlessRoar]

The World Health Organisation has asked China for more detailed information about an outbreak of a respiratory illness and reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.

Since mid-October, the WHO said northern China had reported an increase in influenza-like illnesses compared with the same period in the previous three years.

In recent days, local media in cities such as Xian in the northwest have posted videos online of hospitals crowded with parents and children waiting to be seen by medics.

The WHO has responded by making an official request to China for additional information as well as laboratory results from the reported outbreaks among children.

In the meantime it has recommended Chinese communities take preventative measures including getting vaccinated, wearing masks, keeping a distance from sick people, staying at home when ill and regular hand-washing.

Chinese authorities have attributed the spike to a cold snap - and to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza - as well as common bacterial infections that affect children, including mycoplasma pneumonia.

As temperatures plummeted in the Chinese capital of Beijing, located in the north of the country, the city "entered a high incidence season of respiratory infectious diseases", Wang Quanyi, deputy director and chief epidemiological expert at the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state media on Wednesday.

The city "is currently showing a trend of multiple pathogens coexisting", he added.

Hospitals 'overwhelmed with sick children'

On Wednesday, the WHO said groups including the Programme for Monitoring Emerging Diseases reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.

The alert, based on a report by Taiwanese outlet FTV News, said children's hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning, 500 miles apart, were "overwhelmed with sick children".

"Many, many are hospitalised," Mr Wei, a Beijing citizen, told FTV News. "They don't cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature (fever) and many develop pulmonary nodules."

The WHO said it was unclear if these cases were associated with an overall increase in respiratory infections previously reported by Chinese authorities - or separate events.

Source: Sky News

WHO seeks answers from China about mystery outbreak of respiratory illness

In recent days, local media in cities such as Xian in northwest China have posted videos online of hospitals crowded with parents and children waiting to be seen by medics.

news.sky.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

People worldwide want China to explain how COVID-19 started. Being open about this is important for everyone's health and to avoid similar problems in the future.

 

[BouncerGuy]

As Mystery Respiratory Disease Spreads Across China, Indian Doctor's Warning

New Delhi: Amid the reported outbreak of H9N2 cases and clusters of respiratory illness in children in northern China, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital Director Dr Ajay Shukla advised people to be careful, follow routine practices of cleanness and if there's someone who has got this respiratory illness or infection they should try to maintain distance from other people.

"I would just advise people to be careful. Follow routine practices of cleanness and if you feel that there's someone who's got this respiratory illness or infection, since a lot of these cases are viral and they can be transmitted, try to maintain distance from other people," Dr Shukla said on Friday.

The advice comes after an undetermined pneumonia outbreak in China is hitting children hard, with media reports describing overwhelmed children's hospitals in multiple locations.

"Because we are also dealing with pollution if you're going out, and if you can afford it, it's better you should use a mask, preferably an N95 and N99 mask. Wash your hands and maintain safe, healthy practices," he added.

Speaking on exercising precautions among children Dr Shukla said, "If children are going to school, then take special care that they do not have cough, cold, fever or any other symptoms, and talk to them and ask if any child in their class is sick, and if this happens, inform the school teacher about it and if your child is sick then do not send him to school."

Dr Shukla said that the increase in the number of small children going to hospitals with respiratory illnesses has disrupted the situation in China.

"It's very early I would say the amount of information that we are able to access is very, very little. The WHO is definitely very much concerned about it. And, it is trying to get in touch with the authorities in China to extract as maximum details as possible. But so far the picture that is coming out, is that there is a great increase in the number of small children going into hospitals with respiratory illnesses, and in a few centres, they have reported an increase of almost 1200 children a day which is a huge number and a lot of schools have told children not to come to their classes inside the school. So the situation is definitely been disrupted," Dr Ajay Shukla said.

Dr Shukla said that because of COVID and stringent lockdowns the immunity in the general population and children has been impacted, resulting in a rebound in cases.

"Based on the limited information that is available, a few experts have given opinions about the increase in infection in children. According to one expert, because of COVID. And because of the very stringent lockdowns that we saw in China, the immunity in the general population and the children over there has been impacted and because of that low immunity, this rebound in cases is being seen," Dr Shukla said.

Notably, the World Health Organization requested detailed information from China on an increase in respiratory illnesses and pneumonia among the country's children, using language similar to a Jan. 5, 2020, pre-pandemic missive regarding COVID-19.

"According to another expert, it's most probably just a bacterial infection or a viral infection. Some organism by the name of MIKO plasma pneumoniae, which is common and not a dangerous bacterial infection is probably at the root of this illness. This has led to an increase in cases and it's basically because of the low immunity as a result of the severe lockdown," he added.

Dr Shukla added that experts have also said that there is no need to worry about the disease in India as its symptoms have not been seen in the country yet.

"Not a single patient infected with this disease has been found in India yet. There is no increase in cases in any part of India so far, or any part of the world apart from China. So all the cases that we're hearing are from China," the doctor said.

The Director of RML Hospital said that earlier 20 to 30 children came to the hospital every day, but now their number is less as 10 to 15 children are coming to the hospital. The number of children with respiratory diseases is not much, he said adding that there is no patient suffering from this disease in his hospital at present.

Dr Shukla asked people not to panic and that a pandemic-like situation will not happen going by the limited information that exists about this new influenza.

"According to the very few details that are available, people are saying there's nothing to panic about, there's nothing to suggest it is something that will take the shape of a pandemic, like with COVID. So, we should not start comparing it with that. I would suggest that we need to monitor the situation very closely and wait for additional information before we reach any conclusion," he said.

The RML Hospital Director said that there is normally an increasing number of influenza cases before the winter every year and this does not suggest an abnormal increase in cases.
​

SOURCE: NDTV

 

[BouncerGuy]

Another viral outbreak from China?
Is this for real or just a coincidence that China is the root cause of all such diseases?

 

[FearlessRoar]

Amid a spike in respiratory illnesses among children in northern China, the government has initiated a review of the preparedness measures to combat such illnesses. The Centre said it is closely monitoring the situation and stressed that there is no need for any alarm.

The Health Ministry has urged States and Union Territories (UTs) to conduct an immediate assessment of their public health and hospital preparedness measures. The directive emphasised the need to ensure adequate availability of human resources, hospital beds, essential medications, medical oxygen, antibiotics, personal protective equipment (PPE), testing kits, and reagents at hospitals.

Additionally, healthcare facilities must ensure the proper functioning of their oxygen plants and ventilators, and meticulously review infection control protocols to prevent the spread of infections, the Health minister said in its directive.

The Health Ministry has advised the implementation of the "Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of COVID-19". These guidelines, issued earlier this year, establish a framework for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens, including influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI).

It also emphasised monitoring ILI-SARI trends, particularly among children and adolescents, by district and state surveillance units of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). The timely uploading of ILI-SARI data to the IDSP portal, especially from public health institutions, including medical college hospitals, is essential for effective monitoring and outbreak response, it said.

China, still bearing the scars of the COVID-19 pandemic, now confronts a fresh challenge: an enigmatic pneumonia outbreak that is rapidly spreading through its educational institutions. Evoking memories of the harrowing scenes witnessed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this new development has overwhelmed hospitals across the country.

Earlier this month, Chinese health officials from the National Health Commission (NHC) convened a press conference to address a recent surge in respiratory illnesses across the country.

China's health commission has clarified that the outbreak is due to a combination of known pathogens, dispelling concerns about a new virus.

The sudden spike in respiratory illnesses prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to request more information from Chinese authorities, following a report from the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases about clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.

Source: NDTV

India Says Monitoring China Pneumonia Spike, Urges States To Not Panic

Amid a spike in respiratory illnesses among children in northern China, the government has initiated a review of the preparedness measures to combat such illnesses. The Centre is closely monitoring the situation and stressed that the

www.ndtv.com

 

[gani999]

I wonder what they ate this time.
Seriously, China isn't getting a good rep at all. First the bird flu, then COVID and now this.

 

[Stewie]

this is what happens when you keep animals of various species together in wet markets, without any regulation.. and sell them to the masses as a source of nutrition.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Italy seizes synthetic drugs worth $678 mln from China​

Italian customs said Monday they had seized more than six tons of chemical drug “precursors” from China worth 630 million euros ($678 million).

An Italian entrepreneur from Milan was placed under investigation and two Chinese nationals were arrested in the Netherlands as part of investigations carried out with European judicial agency Eurojust, said Italian customs.

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2024/07/01/italy-seizes-synthetic-drugs-worth-678-mln-from-china