Mysterious pneumonia cases spreading among children in China

BEIJING

Respiratory diseases and undiagnosed pneumonia are on the rise in China, according to the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

The society said in a report on Tuesday that children’s hospitals in Beijing and northern Liaoning are overloaded with “undetermined” pneumonia-like cases believed to have originated from bacterial infections.

The report highlighted details from a news report by Taiwan-based FTV News, stating that many patients had visited Beijing Children’s Hospital. A citizen was quoted as saying: “Many children are under treatment at the hospital. There is no cough, they do not show symptoms of pneumonia, but there is high fever and inflammation in the respiratory tract.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Thursday that it has requested official information from China regarding undiagnosed pneumonia cases in children.

Mycoplasma pneumonia, an atypical bacterial infection, has spread worldwide from 2015 onwards but declined after measures were taken against the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 onwards.

The re-emergence of the disease, treated with antibiotic drugs, is likely linked to increased antibiotic resistance.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul