China is facing a new epidemic of respiratory diseases, affecting a large number of children in the north of the country.
After the Covid 19 pandemic which first hit China hard before spreading to the rest of the world for several years, the World Health Organization (WHO) is looking very closely at this new health situation. . In a statement released by the World Health Organization on November 22, the WHO asked China to provide more information regarding the increase in cases of respiratory diseases and pneumonia affecting many children, particularly in the north of the country.
The WHO press release explains that this epidemic of respiratory pathologies was first mentioned during a press conference held by the Chinese authorities of the National Health Commission on November 13, 2023. The alert concerning “unknown pneumonia diagnosed” was launched by the global disease surveillance system ProMED in an article published on the institution’s website Tuesday, November 21.
In another WHO press release published Thursday, November 23, China argues that no “new or unusual pathogens” are linked to this peak in respiratory illnesses. The Chinese authorities justify this increase by the lifting of drastic restrictions of the “Zero Covid” policy for a year.
Bruno Lina, virologist and former member of the scientific council, sees this, in Le Parisien, as a sensible explanation. “Perhaps there is a catch-up phenomenon, what we call the immune debt. It’s a hypothesis,” he suggests. The lack of exposure to the external environment during the Covid period could explain a certain vulnerability of the Chinese population to common pathologies.
Even if Chinese health authorities have not yet determined the origin of this new epidemic, the Mycoplasma pneumonia bacteria represents the first avenue to study. This bacteria first affects children and adolescents, the population directly affected by this epidemic. It is particularly responsible for pneumonia in children which is detected by symptoms such as fever, fatigue and sore throat. A worrying fact about the treatment of the bacteria was revealed by Yin Yudong, an infectious disease doctor at Chaoyang Hospital, China’s leading medical center for respiratory diseases.
During an interview with the Chinese media Beijing News in early November, it revealed that azithromycin, the antibiotic commonly used to treat the bacteria, would be ineffective on more than 80% of Chinese children. He specifies that this resistance rate is the highest in the world. Yin Yudong also adds in this interview that antibiotics such as azithromycin “are safer, have fewer side effects, and have a low risk of allergic reactions.”
As local medical care practices are still underdeveloped in China, hospitals and emergency rooms represent the first point of medical contact for residents. It is therefore no surprise that hospitals and pediatric emergency services in Beijing and more widely those in the north of the country quickly filled up with sick children accompanied by their parents, sometimes waiting for hours before being able to talk to a doctor. Despite the high rate of affected children, no official alert has yet been announced and no measures such as wearing masks or closing schools have yet been decided.
