There is an air of déjà vu in the office responsible for China at the WHO. Nearly four years after the appearance of “viral pneumonia”, at the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, China is experiencing an upsurge in cases of respiratory illnesses. Enough to push the WHO, at the time accused of laxity, to put pressure on Beijing to obtain details. So what is happening in China? Should we fear a Covid bis scenario? 20 minutes takes stock with Anne Goffard, virologist at Lille University Hospital.
What is the situation in China?
On November 13, Chinese authorities acknowledged to the press an increase in respiratory illnesses in the country. Chinese media and global disease monitoring system ProMED said Tuesday that cases of unconfirmed pneumonia in children were circulating in the north of the country. According to the Chinese authorities, this resurgence of respiratory diseases is linked to the abandonment of anti-Covid measures.
“In China, there were very long and very strict confinements, during which the population was not confronted with viral infections,” confirms doctor Anne Goffard. Also, the Chinese are “not well protected against colds and winter infections” which are coming, with a cold wave currently hitting Beijing. The problem is that “we don’t have figures on the number of cases, mortality, etc. », a “usual” scenario for China. “It’s normal for the WHO to be worried, we don’t want to reproduce the situation of 2019,” reasons the researcher, while urging “not to panic”.
What did the WHO ask China?
The WHO says it has requested from China “additional epidemiological and clinical information, as well as laboratory results on these reported outbreaks in children”. The organization “also requested additional information on recent trends in the circulation of known pathogens, including influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV affecting infants and Mycoplasma pneumoniae, as well as on the degree of congestion in the health system,” the press release further specifies. The Geneva-based organization also recommends that the population respect “measures aimed at reducing the risk of respiratory disease”.
Should we be afraid of a new epidemic?
Faced with the lack of information from China, fears are understandable. But in Western countries, “anti-Covid collective immunity has been built”, reassures Anne Goffard, where vaccination in China has been faulty or done with a “not very effective” vaccine. A new variant could always emerge, but the trajectory of Covid variants is towards a decline in serious cases. “Monitored here”, the flu could “circulate a lot in China this winter”. “There is still time to get vaccinated,” urges the doctor, who also points out that an epidemic of bronchiolitis is underway in France.
The novelty would then not come from a virus but from a bacteria, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, observed in China. Among a crowd of parents at the Beijing Pediatric Institute hospital this Thursday, Zhou Yedong carries her 4-year-old daughter on her shoulders: “My daughter has pneumonia linked to Mycoplasma pneumoniae. We no longer send him to nursery school for the moment,” he explains to AFP. “A lot of his classmates are sick of this right now. » The bacteria, which causes pneumonia in children, is also the subject of an “alert from Public Health France”, which is investigating to check whether the number of cases is abnormally high. In all cases, “wearing a mask, ventilating the premises, distancing, that also works” to fight against these diseases, Serine Anne Goffard.