China is currently recuperating from the catastrophic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, an unexplained pneumonia outbreak has spread throughout schools, overwhelming hospitals with ill children. This presents a potential new health emergency. This has worried specialists in global health.
Beijing and province of Liaoning are the epicenters of this outbreak, with pediatric hospitals dealing with sick children in huge number. Due to the severity of the situation, which is reminiscent of the early stages of Covid-19, both students and teachers have become ill, causing some schools to suspend classes.
The children who are impacted are displaying symptoms such as a high fever and inflammation of the lungs, but they do not have a cough, which is typical when someone has the flu or a respiratory virus illness like RSV.
A citizen from Beijing told Taiwanese news website FTV News, “Many, many (children) are hospitalised. They don’t cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature and many develop pulmonary nodules.”
On Tuesday, the global disease surveillance platform ProMed released a warning regarding children’s undiagnosed pneumonia. Although the current outbreak has not been reported to impact adults, its rapid spread among children raises the possibility that school environments may be linked to it. The outbreak’s onset is unclear.
A video of people in China wearing face masks in the wake of the pneumonia outbreak was shared by US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has formally requested comprehensive data from China regarding a rise in respiratory ailments and documented pediatric pneumonia clusters.
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