Chinese hospitals ‘overwhelmed with sick children’ after surge in respiratory illness

Beijing children’s hospital admitting at least 7,000 patients a day, far exceeding capacity

A child wearing a mask passes by a children’s hospital in Beijing (AP)

China insists it has not detected any “unusual or novel diseases” despite hospitals being overwhelmed with children suffering from respiratory illnesses, officials said on Thursday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had asked China on Wednesday to provide details about a spike in “undiagnosed pneumonia in children” in the northern parts of the country amid fears of a new virus outbreak.

The health body requested additional epidemiological and clinical information and test results from Chinese officials.

A Beijing children’s hospital told state media CCTV that at least 7,000 patients were being admitted daily to the institution, far exceeding its capacity.

Last week, the largest pediatric hospital in nearby Tianjin reportedly received more than 13,000 children at its outpatient and emergency departments.

This week, groups including the international Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in north China.

“With the outbreak of pneumonia in China, children’s hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning and other places were overwhelmed with sick children, and schools and classes were on the verge of suspension. Parents questioned whether the authorities were covering up the epidemic,” ProMed was quoted by FTV News as saying.

The resurgence of respiratory illness comes as China braces for its first winter season since lifting stringent “zero-Covid” restrictions.

The rise in infection rates has caused people to mask up once again (AP)

Beijing responded to the WHO’s request within 24 hours, in line with the organisation’s regulations, saying that it was “routine” to request information from member states.

“No changes in the disease presentation were reported by the Chinese health authorities,” the WHO said. It added that Chinese officials said the spike in patients had not overloaded the country’s hospitals.

The health body said north China has witnessed a spike in influenza-like illness since mid-October compared with the same period in the previous three years.

A woman carries a child as they leave a children’s hospital in Beijing (AP)

Local media reported a steady rise in infections linked to a pathogen called mycoplasma among toddlers and primary school students.

China’s top medical centre for respiratory diseases – Beijing Chaoyang Hospital – reported a 40 per cent rise in mycoplasma positivity rate among children, compared to just 6 per cent among adults. Vice dean Tong Zhaohui last week warned that mycoplasma tends to cause major outbreaks every “three to seven years”.

Younger children are prone to develop pneumonia, with symptoms that last for weeks, authorities said.

Social media in China has been awash with pictures and videos of crowded hospitals (AFP via Getty)

“It is just a relatively large seasonal surge, perhaps partly due to chance and partly because there’s a bit of ‘immunity debt’ from the lesser winter surges in the last three years,” Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at Hong Kong University, told Reuters.

The scare has brought back masks on people’s faces. On Thursday, China’s National Health Commission published an interview with the state media agency Xinhua in which it advised parents what to do and mentioned that big hospitals were receiving a large number of patients and waiting times were long.

Pictures and videos shared on social media showed hospitals crowded with parents and children awaiting checks. Some social media users have posted photos of children doing homework while receiving intravenous drips in the hospital.

India’s health ministry on Friday said it was “closely monitoring the outbreak of H9N2” influenza and “clusters of respiratory illness in children in China”.

“There is low risk to India from both the avian influenza case reported from China as well as the clusters of respiratory illness,” it said in a statement, adding that the government was prepared for any kind of emergency that could emerge from the situation.