What led to surge in respiratory illnesses in China: Lifting COVID norms, cold season, lack of immunity, or new virus?
World Health Organization (WHO) raised concerns over the country reporting "clusters of pneumonia in children". If not a new virus, then what is causing respiratory infections in northern China? China's National Health Commission spokesperson said on Sunday that acute respiratory diseases continue to rise in the country and that it is being caused by the flu and other known pathogen.
"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 as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections," the National Health Commission spokesperson was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. The WHO said earlier the Chinese authorities had reported an increase in incidence of respiratory diseases in China at a press conference on November 13.
The global health agency said Chinese health officials on Thursday provided the data it requested during a teleconference. According to a WHO statement, Beijing responded to the request, saying "there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens," AFP reported.
The data reportedly showed an increase in hospital admissions of children due to diseases including bacterial infection, RSV, influenza and common cold viruses since October. ALSO READ: Centre asks states to review hospital preparedness amid China pneumonia scare, says ‘no need for alarm’ The WHO has now requested more information, noting that China closely monitors trends in viruses such as the flu, RSV and SARS-CoV-2.
Meanwhile, experts also suggested there is little to suggest the cases were caused by a new virus. China also linked rising
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