China claims no unusual pathogens behind pneumonia cases: WHO
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Beijing: The UN health agency, WHO, on Thursday quoted China as saying there is no new pathogens behind increasing pneumonia cases among children in the country’s Northern provinces.
Reports yesterday said hospitals are overwhelmed by a flood of patients, mostly children, suffering from a respiratory illness.
Facial mask is back in force in some places and schools have been shut down in some districts.
Health experts remain clueless about whether any pathogens are on the loose in the country, much like the Covid-19, which initially went unnoticed.
Since the outbreak of the illness, the World Health Organization have been monitoring the situation going through data from China’s surveillance systems.
The WHO on Wednesday requested China to supply more data regarding the outbreak.
On Thursday, the agency had teleconference with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Beijing Children’s Hospital, news agency AFP reported.
‘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 was quoted as saying.
The agency recommended in people in China to reduce the risk of respiratory illness.
It suggested people to follow guidelines including taking vaccines against flu, keeping social distance, staying home if ill, wearing mask , getting tested and receiving medical care.
The agency however did not give any specific guidelines for travellers to China.
China faces another health crisis a month shy of the fourth anniversary of Covid -19 outbreak.
