A mysterious pneumonia outbreak in China has led to a massive increase in hospital emergencies. According to China National Radio, the Beijing Children's Hospital is seeing an average of 7,000 patients a day.
According to reports, the infection that mostly affects children is causing lung inflammation and high fever in affected individuals, but other symptoms such as cough are absent.
Experts say the increase in cases of this 'undiagnosed pneumonia' may be due to a phenomenon called 'immunity debt' after the lifting of lockdown restrictions in the peak season of respiratory diseases.
Experts suspect that this mysterious flu-like illness found in Beijing and China's Liaoning province may be due to earlier viruses such as RSV, bacteria such as Mycoplasma.
Important to note is that not all viral infections necessarily cause the full spectrum of symptoms we associate with the common flu. Common symptoms of any viral infection are fever, with or without chills.
Recently, there has been an increase in cases of pneumonia in children, especially in some areas of northern China, causing concern reminiscent of events in November and December 2019. However, there is some relief according to a report by the World Health Organization ( WHO). The Chinese government has clarified that these cases are attributed to pathogens known as bacteria and viruses, including influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and some cases of COVID.
According to the WHO report, the Chinese government has identified the causes of these pneumonia cases, ruling out the presence of any new virus or bacteria. As a result, there is no immediate risk of the situation spreading globally.
What are the symptoms of this mysterious pneumonia?
"Pneumonia is a lung infection that affects one or both lungs leading to the filling of the air sacs (alveoli) with water caused by bacteria, viruses such as RSV- respiratory syncytial virus, Adenovirus, Influenza, Rhinovirus, COVID and bacteria such as Mycoplasma pneumonia.
It is diagnosed based on symptoms such as cough, difficulty breathing, fever and vomiting in children and chest X-rays. Recently, there has been an increase in cases of flu-like illnesses in children from Beijing and China's Liaoning province, dubbed 'mystery pneumonia' because the cause is still under investigation. It can be any of the pre-existing viruses like RSV, bacteria or atypical bacteria like Mycoplasma.