CHINA URGES LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO HAVE MORE FEVER CLINICS AMID SURGE IN RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES

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Sun 26 October 2023:

The Chinese health ministry on Sunday (Nov 26) urged local authorities to increase the number of fever clinics amid a surge in respiratory illnesses across the country. Addressing a press conference, National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said that the surge in acute respiratory illnesses was linked to the simultaneous circulation of several kinds of pathogens, most prominently influenza.

“Surveillance shows that recent respiratory infectious diseases are dominated by influenza, in addition to those caused by rhinovirus, mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus. Analysis suggests that the recent continuous rise in acute respiratory diseases in China is related to the simultaneous circulation of several kinds of respiratory pathogens,” Feng told reporters, the news agency Reuters reported.

He added that efforts should be made to increase the number of relevant clinics and treatment, appropriately extend service hours and strengthen guarantees of drug supplies among others.

No unusual pathogen: WHO

The spike in respiratory illnesses in China made global headlines last week when the World Health Organization (WHO) asked Beijing for more information, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.

On Thursday, the WHO said that data provided by China suggested the recent cases were linked to the lifting of Covid curbs nearly a year ago, along with the circulation of known pathogens like mycoplasma pneumonia which has circulated since May this year. Mycoplasma pneumonia is a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children.

A risk of rebound in Covid cases

The spike in illnesses also comes as China is bracing for its full winter season.

Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at Hong Kong University, told the news agency Reuters, “It is just a relatively large seasonal surge, perhaps partly due to chance and partly because there’s a bit of ‘immunity debt’ from the lesser winter surges in the last three years.”

Earlier, the State Council said that influenza would peak this winter and spring and mycoplasma pneumonia infection would continue to be high in some areas in the future. The Council also warned of the risk of a rebound in Covid cases.

-WION

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