The largest hospital in Tianjin — a province on the coast near Beijing — has allegedly been receiving more than 13,000 sick children through its doors daily. There have also been reports of spikes in child illnesses in the province of Liaoning and in Shanghai — the country's biggest city.
Patients being admitted to hospitals are reportedly suffering from high fever and lung inflammation, but without a cough or pulmonary nodules — lumps on the lungs that are usually the result of a past infection. China also shared data that showed the country had been recording an increased number of children sick with mycoplasma pneumoniae — bacteria that causes mild infections of the respiratory system — since May.
Chinese officials say that no novel virus has been detected and that the cases are instead being caused by a resurgence of other known illnesses. Pediatric cases of Respiratory Synctial Virus (RS Virus), adenovirus, influenza and COVID-19 have also been surging since the fall, according to the data seen by the WHO.
The world was first alerted to the outbreak of 'mystery pneumonia' in China by a report published on ProMED in November 2023 — the same system that alerted the world to the emergence of Covid in Wuhan.
Repeated lockdowns and other measures — which were harshest in China — suppressed the spread of these diseases and weakened immunity against them, setting the stage for a rebound once restrictions were lifted. Experts have also suggested that the fact mostly children are being sickened in this outbreak suggests the diseases causing it are ones adults have already been infected by and have immunity against.
The US faced a similar wave of illnesses during the winter of 202-2023 in its own 'exit wave' from the pandemic with many pediatric units overflowing.
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