Pneumonia in Young Children: Is the Chinese epidemic spreading ?
The short answer to this question is…yes, it already has. First, some background…. World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring data from Chinese surveillance systems that have been showing an increase in respiratory illness in children in northern China this autumn. In mid-November, China’s National Health Commission reported a nationwide increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases, predominantly affecting children. They attributed this seasonal increase primarily to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and known circulating pathogens such as influenza, Mycoplasma pneumoniae , respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Also relevant was the continued prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the Chinese population. Both Mycoplasma pneumonia and RSV are known to affect children more than adults. To follow up their report, WHO made an official request to China to provide additional epidemiologic and clinical information, as well as laboratory results from the reported cases and data