{"id":242652,"date":"2023-11-30T18:44:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T18:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=242652"},"modified":"2023-11-30T18:44:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T18:44:18","slug":"what-we-know-about-chinas-child-pneumonia-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/what-we-know-about-chinas-child-pneumonia-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"What we know about China\u2019s child pneumonia outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last week reports came out of China of thousands of children coming down with pneumonia. While children are more likely to become ill during the winter, the number of cases in Beijing caused concern.<\/p>\n

Over a week after the alarm was raised about the skyrocketing rates of illness in China scientists are coming to terms with the viruses that are causing the outbreak, but they don\u2019t currently know why.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the steep rise in cases of pneumonia is not limited to children. In Europe, cases have started to surge as the virus has spread.<\/p>\n

As a result, there are now concerns that the virus could spread to the UK and cause cases to spike, putting more pressure on the NHS at the time of year when it is under greater stress.<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> Full list of countries affected by Chinese respiratory illness[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n

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One of the main things that is now known about the outbreak in China is that the pathogens are not unusual or novel, this means that they are not new.<\/p>\n

In a statement released about the outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said: \u201cChinese authorities advised that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey further stated that the rise in respiratory illness has not resulted in patient loads exceeding hospital capacities. The Chinese authorities advised that, since mid-October, enhanced outpatient and inpatient surveillance has been implemented for respiratory illnesses covering a broad spectrum of viruses and bacteria.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also said that China \u201chas systems in place to capture information on trends in influenza, influenza-like illness\u201d and that the WHO \u201cis closely monitoring the situation and is in close contact with national authorities in China\u201d.<\/p>\n

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As to the level of risk caused by this outbreak, the WHO said: \u201cIn the current outbreak of respiratory illness, the reported symptoms are common to several respiratory diseases and, as of now, at the present time, Chinese surveillance and hospital systems report that the clinical manifestations are caused by known pathogens in circulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to surveillance data reported to WHO\u2019s FluNet and published by the National Influenza Centre in China, ILI (Influenza Like Illnesses) was above usual levels for this time of year and increasing in the northern provinces.”<\/p>\n

The WHO said it did not recommend any specific measures for people travelling to China and advised against the \u201capplication of any travel or trade restrictions based on the current information\u201d.<\/p>\n

Just days after this statement was released on November 23 the New York Post reported that pneumonia cases had unexpectedly surged in the Netherlands. They said that cases of pneumonia among children aged four and under had jumped from 124 to 145 per 100,000 and 80 per 100,000 in the five to 15 age group.<\/p>\n