China: Rising cases of respiratory disease and pneumonia spark WHO concern

The World Health Organization has made an official request to China for more detailed information after reports of an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children.On 21 November posts on ProMED, the free disease reporting service that first alerted the world to covid-19, reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China. WHO requested additional epidemiological and clinical information as well as laboratory results from the reported clusters through the International Health Regulations mechanism.“There are many different known viruses that could be the cause, and these must all be sought in testing,” said David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “It is important to consider that there is likely a background of seasonal respiratory infections—the challenge is to discern the outbreaks and determine the cause. At the same time isolation and sequencing will also provide answers.”WHO…
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