Antibiotic-resistant pneumonia behind surge in cases among children in China

every day, in Beijing Children’s HospitalAround the infusion center, a group of parents were waiting with their children in their arms.When Fang Hui and his people arrived at the hospital eight month old little girlHe had been suffering from a high fever for several days and had to wait for more than 40 minutes just to get the ticket from the machine.

With the number in hand, he looked at the monitor in surprise, which showed that there were more than 400 people in front of him who needed consultation.used to be 16 hours of waiting, or even stay overnight at the center. In the hallways and waiting rooms, many parents fell asleep on the floor with their children. No matter which process it is, whether it is getting an infusion ticket, waiting for a consultation, or paying for medicine, the scene of the crowd is the same.

This scene is reminiscent of the hospital collapse. The first (and not too distant) Covid waveIt did not arrive in China until the end of December 2022 and was extended to early February 2023. The Asian powerhouse suddenly lifted all restrictions after three years of being shackled by a policy of lockdowns, locked-down cities and daily PCR tests. , causing unprecedented pressure on the health system.

Nearly a year later, many hospitals are once again at a loss Because what the authorities describe “pathogen cocktail”They are old acquaintances who have fallen out of circulation in recent years due to overprotection during the pandemic — masks, social distancing and long periods of isolation at home.

The number of children admitted to Tianjin Children’s Hospital reaches a record high

Tianjin Children’s Hospital, a 30-minute train ride from Beijing, reported on Monday that it was treating a record number of children. More than 13,000 pediatric patients daily. If we go south, to the city of Dongguan, several primary schools have closed on the advice of the authorities because in many classrooms more than a third of the students started to show strong flu symptoms. On social networks, many parents complained that they had to spend a fortune in private hospitals because everything in public centers was chaotic.

“this confinement During the epidemic Stop the spread of seasonal viruses This means many people have no chance of developing immunity to these microorganisms Young children who experienced their first flu three years later“Dr. Li Zhu from the Department of Pediatrics at Shanghai Sunflower Hospital explained, and he ensured that their consultation volume in November increased by 200% compared to the same period last year.

The center’s infusion room, like those in Beijing, was packed with people, with children scattered in the corridors receiving intravenous drugs. “The most cases we receive are influenza caseswhich is more severe in children under five years old,” the doctor said.

At Huasang General Hospital in central Shanghai, the emergency room was packed with elderly people suffering from severe flu and COVID-19. Some experts have said a second wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections is beginning, which will increase the incomes of older adults. The center’s children’s area also receives large numbers of parents with children suffering from pneumonia. Mycoplasma,A Common bacterial infections This usually affects young children.

antibiotic-resistant bacterial pneumonia

“Although this Pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics – macrolides –overdependence on these drugs Causing pathogens to develop drug resistance“They’ve also reported an increase in pneumonia in children,” explained epidemiologist Benjamin Cowling of the University of Hong Kong. “In the study in Beijing, what we saw was The resistance rate of Mycoplasma pneumoniae to macrolide drugs is between 70% and 90%. “This resistance may be one of the reasons why hospitalizations will remain high this year.”

After the increase in respiratory diseases in China and widespread reports of childhood pneumonia caused an uproar in the international health community, WHO asks Beijing to provide detailed information on outbreakChina’s Ministry of Health organized a press conference on Sunday to make it clear that no new virus had emerged.

Multiple factors behind surge in cases

Mi Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said that the recent respiratory infection clusters were caused by respiratory infections. Common virus coverage For example Influenza, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and adenovirusThere are also bacteria such as mycoplasma that are causing a wave of “walking” pneumonia in children.

“They have to finish Work hard to implement effective preventive measures Mi said: “Including epidemic control in densely populated key locations such as schools, child care institutions, nursing homes, etc. This includes minimizing the movement of people and visits.”

Dr. Wang Huaqing, director of the immunization program at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in the same speech, Infect Mycoplasma Mainly observed in age group 5 to 14 years oldwhile the rest are primarily sickened by different types and combinations of viruses.

On November 13, Chinese authorities had explained at a press conference that the sharp increase in the number of infections among minors was due to mycoplasma pneumonia, which mainly affects children and young children. The most common symptoms are headache, sore throat, cough and fever.. Even in October, multiple state media outlets reported an increase in such cases.

But only then did international focus turn to China WHO makes public its request following ProMed report, the epidemic monitoring network that first alerted the world about the new coronavirus, said “undiagnosed pneumonia” was concentrated in the north of the Asian giant. Many people remember the World Health Organization’s statement on January 5, 2020, which mentioned an “unexplained pneumonia” in Wuhan.

Despite the media hype, the World Health Organization made it clear from the beginning that the strange cases cited by ProMed (whose first source was a Thai newspaper article talking about mysterious cases of pneumonia) were probably Related to the same pneumonia outbreak reported by Chinese authorities. On Friday, Beijing responded to a request for information from the World Health Organization, noting that no new pathogens had been identified and that the increase in respiratory illnesses was partly due to the first winter since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. 19.

“What’s happening in China is A situation that most countries faced a year or two ago.No new and unusual pathogens discovered“He said this week Maria van KerkhoveActing Director, Epidemic Preparedness and Prevention Department, World Health Organization. Experts reiterate that the current increase in respiratory illnesses in the Asian country appears to be due to an increase in the number of children contracting pathogens after avoiding exposure to the bacteria in recent years.