WHO investigating uptick in respiratory illnesses in China

The World Health Organization is investigating a cluster of respiratory illness cases in children in China following an alert on Tuesday, Nov. 21, calling for more information about undiagnosed pneumonia in China. The standard alert, which looked and read similar to a 2019 alert about the COVID-19, led to some fear the world was looking at the beginning of another potential global pandemic.

The WHO, though, is urging caution before jumping to conclusions about a new pandemic.

According to a WHO release, Chinese officials attribute the rise in respiratory illness to lifting COVID restrictions, adding that this is likely a rise in common respiratory illnesses, like the flu, and could be an uptick in COVID cases.

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“Since mid-October, northern China has reported an increase in influenza-like illness compared to the same period in the previous three years,” the release reads.

The WHO added that it always requests additional information when unknown diseases are reported as part of its International Health Regulations System.

Following WHO’s inquiry for more information, Chinese health officials reported on Wednesday, Nov. 23 that no unknown diseases or viruses have been linked to the uptick in respiratory illnesses in Northern China.

“Chinese authorities advised that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning, but only the aforementioned general increase in respiratory illnesses due to multiple known pathogens,” the WHO said.

Chinese health officials added that the increase in respiratory cases has not resulted in “exceeding hospital capacities.”