Not just China, the mysterious pneumonia has also arrived in France. What is happening and what the WHO says so far
According to China, the increase in pneumonia cases among children is due to already known pathogens and not to a new virus, but an anomalous number of pneumonias in children and young people under 15 has also been recorded in France in recent weeks . All the details
About a week ago ProMed, a publicly accessible surveillance system that monitors human and animal disease outbreaks around the world, issued an alert about undiagnosed pneumonia among children in China. Now France is also reporting an anomalous increase in cases among children and young people under 15 years of age.
Here are all the details.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN FRANCE
An epidemic of lung disease in children has been underway in France for a few weeks. This respiratory infection, different from bronchiolitis, writes France Info , is becoming increasingly common, especially among children under 15. Between July and November, emergency room visits and consultations with SOS Médicins (an emergency service that sends doctors directly to a residence instead of sending an ambulance) went from less than 1% to almost 3%.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae , the bacterium also responsible, at least in part, for the outbreak of pneumonia in China, is under attack.
CASE NUMBERS IN FRANCE
From the official bulletin on the monitoring of emergency rooms, published by the institutions last week, it emerged that for the youngest children there was a 44% increase in visits between 0 and 2 years old in a week for these infections. A number that halves to 23% for the age group from 2 to 14 years. In general, for pediatrics the care activity has doubled compared to the last two seasons for these pathologies.
We also learn that young patients arrive in pediatric emergency rooms due to severe fatigue, fever, persistent and deep cough. A symptom which, in France, is among the top 8 causes of emergency care in recent weeks.
WHO WANTS TO SEE CLEARLY
After ProMed's alert, the World Health Organization (WHO) submitted an official request to China to obtain detailed information on the increase in respiratory diseases and cases of pneumonia.
CHINA'S FIRST RESPONSE
Beijing, despite the images of overcrowded emergency rooms and the little news that has been obtained, claims that the increase in cases is due to influenza and other known pathogens and not to a new virus.
In fact, the National Health Commission reported in a briefing that the recent "clusters of respiratory infections are due to an overlap of common viruses such as influenza, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus or RSV, adenovirus and bacteria" such as mycoplasma pneumoniae , which is indeed a common responsible for respiratory tract infections but is also difficult to treat due to its resistance to azithromycin, the antibiotic most used for its treatment.
China, in particular, presents greater resistance with peaks ranging up to 60%-70% of cases in adults and up to 80% of cases in children.
THE CASE OF VIETNAM
But in addition to China and France, Vietnam has also reported a peak in respiratory diseases since October and last week the US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding published on there were more beds available.
14) The respiratory department at Vietnam's children's hospital (HCMC) has run out of beds, forcing patients to lie in hammocks in the hallway. Video via @trongnhan9500
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 22, 2023
Now, according to Ansa , the confirmation also comes from the International Society for the Study of Infectious Diseases, which in its Emerging Diseases Monitoring Program also reports a case of avian influenza in Cambodia, in a 4-year-old girl, but at the moment there is no mention of possible human-to-human transmission.
As for Vietnam, 1,100 cases of pneumonia, bronchial asthma and serious respiratory diseases have been diagnosed in the Can Tho pediatric hospital alone, in the south of the country. In general, since the beginning of October 2023, children's hospitals have had to increase the number of available beds. However, it is noted that the peak has been reached and that cases are now decreasing.
Doctors note that coughing is not the only symptom and recommend that parents also monitor signs such as headache, runny nose, lethargy, as well as an acceleration in the rate of breathing, which could be a sign of pneumonia .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/non-solo-cina-la-misteriosa-polmonite-e-arrivata-anche-in-francia-cosa-sta-succedendo-e-cosa-dice-finora-loms/ on Mon, 27 Nov 2023 15:49:48 +0000.