What is Walking Pneumonia? - New Illness in China
China has reported an outbreak of ‘Walking Pneumonia,’ a new ‘pneumonia’ like disease in the educational institutes of northern cities Beijing & Liaoning.
Yet to recover completely from the impact of Covid19 pandemic, China is now facing a new health hazard. A mysterious Pneumonia has outbroken in China’s schools & educational institutes. China’s National Health Commission addressed local media on 13th November 2023 and disclosed the rise and widespread of a new respiratory disease in the country. While the Chinese health authority did not announce the total number of infection cases, the disease is mostly affecting children & young adults. It is causing lung inflammation (swelling) and high fever but not cough & cold. On 21st November 2023, the global public disease surveillance system – ProMED confirmed the traces of this ‘undiagnosed pneumonia’ in children of northern China. Later, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the reports and tweeted that the northern areas of China including Beijing & Liaoning Province have reported an increase in cases. The hospitals in Beijing & Liaoning are seeing an average of 7,000 patients per day and are on the verge of collapsing due to this overwhelming number of sick children. One of the Beijing locals & mother of a 4-year-old said “I brought my kid to Beijing Children's Hospital a few days ago. It was fully packed. There were 300 people in front of us waiting. We waited four hours until afternoon to see a doctor.” Schools & educational institutes may soon be suspended too. The disease has been termed "walking pneumonia" because so far, it often doesn’t necessitate hospitalization. According to a Global Times report, the rise in the ‘Walking pneumonia’ epidemic is due to the "immunity gap." China implemented one of the most severe lockdowns under its zero-Covid for almost three years. China experienced a far longer and harsher lockdown than essentially any other country on Earth. Because of this, the population has been less exposed to other respiratory pathogens, such as influenza and mycoplasma pneumonia. This has resulted in lower immunity levels and higher infection chances. With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions ‘walking pneumonia’ is more common in the children because they have missed out on natural exposure to other pathogens due to school closures and social distancing. Another reason for this respiratory illness can be the winter season. The northern region of China is currently fighting a severe cold climate. The cold air of winter is heavier and traps more pathogens than the hot breeze of summer. WHO has officially requested China to provide more detailed data because, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese authorities lacked transparency and collaboration with them. WHO has also issued a public health advisory urging Chinese citizens to take necessary preventive measures like social distancing, wearing masks, regular hand washing, staying indoors if unwell, regular medical tests, etc. to reduce the risk of exposure. The Union Health Ministry of India said that there is a "low risk" to India and assured the Indian citizens that it is monitoring the situation closely. Later, the health ministry issued an official advisory to all states and Union territories urging them to immediately reassess and reinforce public health and hospital preparedness measures as a preventive measure. The advisory also requested the implementation of the 'Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of COVID-19 for strengthening the healthcare infrastructure.
