The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked China for more information on “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia” reportedly spreading among children in the north of the country.
Non-state media reports say paediatric hospitals in parts of China are overwhelmed with sick children.
Chinese authorities have attributed a spike in flu-like illnesses this winter to the lifting of Covid measures.
The WHO is urging people in China to take measures to reduce transmission.
In a statement, the UN health agency says it wants more information on reports in the media and from ProMed - a global outbreak surveillance system - of “clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China”.
Current hypothesis (in the article) is that the children don’t have immunity to endemic diseases after years of lockdown and are now getting sick. There doesn’t seem to be the same rise in cases in adults, who probably have pre-existing immunity.
My gf is 36 and she’s caught whatever is going around North China, and the hospital said they’re having a shortage of IV drugs to treat it because of how many people are sick. It might be mostly kids, but it’s getting other people too.
Yikes, I hope she is ok.
I appreciate your concern. Thankfully she got into a clinic and was able to get treatment and is now on the road to recovery, but it was pretty scary for a little.