Beijing: A sudden outbreak of influenza-like illness mostly among children is keeping authorities in China on tenterhooks and prompted the World Health Organisation to ask for more details from the country about the mysterious outbreak.
Media reports said Chinese hospitals are "overwhelmed with sick children" with respiratory illness which has set alarm bells ringing. Chinese authorities from the National Health Commission in a media briefing on November 12 expressed concern over an increase in respiratory diseases in the country. They linked the factor to the withdrawal of Covid-19 restrictions.
ProMed, a publicly available surveillance system conducting global reporting of infectious disease outbreaks, termed it as "undiagnosed pneumonia" in children. ProMed had alerted about SARs-CoV-2 in December 2019 long before the pandemic swept the world. According to Taiwanese FTV News, hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning are overflooded with a rush of children sick with pneumonia.
Epidemiologist Eric-Feigl-Dingh also shared videos from hospitals and messages from locals in a long thread on X.
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⚠️UNDIAGNOSED PNEUMONIA OUTBREAK—An emerging large outbreak of pneumonia in China, with pediatric hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning overwhelmed with sick children, & many schools suspended. Beijing Children's Hospital overflowing. 🧵on what we know so far:pic.twitter.com/hmgsQO4NEZ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 22, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">⚠️UNDIAGNOSED PNEUMONIA OUTBREAK—An emerging large outbreak of pneumonia in China, with pediatric hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning overwhelmed with sick children, & many schools suspended. Beijing Children's Hospital overflowing. 🧵on what we know so far:pic.twitter.com/hmgsQO4NEZ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 22, 2023⚠️UNDIAGNOSED PNEUMONIA OUTBREAK—An emerging large outbreak of pneumonia in China, with pediatric hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning overwhelmed with sick children, & many schools suspended. Beijing Children's Hospital overflowing. 🧵on what we know so far:pic.twitter.com/hmgsQO4NEZ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 22, 2023
The ProMed report said sick children showed up with high temperatures and pulmonary nodules. Media reports also said patients are queuing up at the traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and the central hospitals. Dalian Central Hospital authorities said patients have to wait in line for hours due to the rush.
Some adults have also been infected, reports said. The authorities could not confirm the date of the outbreak but said they are alarmed over it. A note from ProMed said, “This report suggests a widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory illness ... It is not at all clear when this outbreak started as it would be unusual for so many children to be affected so quickly."
