A request by the World Health Organization for more information on a surge in respiratory illnesses and clusters of pneumonia in children in China has attracted global attention. Some experts say the rise should cause concern, but others have pushed back against suggestions that the situation is a severe public health emergency.
On Thursday, WHO officials talked to the Center for Disease Control and Beijing Children’s Hospital authorities, seeking laboratory results and other data about the outbreak. The WHO later said that Chinese authorities “advised that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens, including mycoplasma pneumonia, and that the increase in respiratory illness is due to multiple known pathogens.”
Earlier this week, the WHO formally asked China for more information after reports of clusters of respiratory illness in kids sounded alarm bells around the world. The request came under the authority of the International Health Regulations, which require countries to alert WHO when they think a disease could cross borders and threaten other populations. The WHO was pilloried at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for failing to take a harder line with less-than-forthcoming Chinese authorities, but this time, it has taken a more measured approach.
The rise in respiratory illness is linked to lifting COVID-19 lockdown restrictions last month and to the usual yearly spike in influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other viruses as winter arrives. Thousands of Chinese parents have brought their sick children to hospitals in recent weeks, leading to crowded hospital rooms and prompting fears of strains on the nation’s healthcare system.
At the same time, virologists and infectious diseases specialists have pushed back against claims that the surge is an indication of an emerging pathogen. One such expert, a senior virologist at the University of Hong Kong, told the BBC that while the cases were concerning, they did not appear more severe than in previous years. “By our professional judgment, it might not be a big deal,” he said, adding that the pattern of overlapping symptoms resembled what happened in the United States in 2022 when children’s hospitals were swamped with kids with Covid, flu, and RSV.
In the US, a top infectious diseases official testified on Capitol Hill on Thursday that the uptick in respiratory illnesses can be explained by existing viruses and bacteria, including Covid, flu, RSV, and mycoplasma pneumonia, all of which are expected to surge this season as Covid-19 infections wind down. Nonetheless, authorities in Taiwan this week advised the elderly, very young, and those with poor immunity to avoid travel to China, and some doctors and public health researchers have also urged caution. Regardless of the facts, the debate over whether to raise international alarm over the current wave of respiratory illness in China will continue. Here’s what we know so far about the situation on the ground.