The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has asked China for additional information on an outbreak of pneumonia among children in the country’s northern parts.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the health organisation cited reports about “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China,” which prompted the UN agency to ask Beijing for “additional epidemiologic and clinical information, as well as laboratory results” related to the infections.
In recent weeks, Chinese health authorities and state media have reported a rise in the number of bacterial pneumonia cases and other influenza-like diseases, particularly among children. According to local officials, the volume of such illnesses seemed to be higher than in the past three years. However, they partly attributed this rise to the lifting of strict COVID-19 restrictions that had helped contain such respiratory ailments.
The World Health Organization is asking China to provide information on an unexplained outbreak of respiratory illnesses and pneumonia, particularly in children. Hospitals in multiple cities are reportedly ‘overwhelmed’ ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/p2F2udG7mE
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 24, 2023
ProMED, a global infectious-diseases reporting agency, said it wasn’t clear whether these reports were “associated with the overall increase in respiratory infections previously reported by Chinese authorities or separate events.”
The WHO also held a teleconference yesterday with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Beijing Children's Hospital, facilitated by the National Health Commission and the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention.
It said afterwards that “Chinese authorities advised that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning, but only the aforementioned general increase in respiratory illnesses due to multiple known pathogens.”
In addition, they informed that the rise in respiratory illness had not resulted in the overburdening of hospitals.
The WHO stressed that it is “closely monitoring the situation” and “is in close contact with national authorities” in China.