In the end, a throat swab with a blood test brings certainty: the daughter of the man in the emergency room of a Chinese hospital in Hubei province has contracted the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae infected. The pathogen can cause pneumonia. In his hand he holds the waiting number that he drew at midday: 1600. Good news for him. There are now 300 parents and their children waiting in front of him so that his daughter can see a doctor. She has had a fever of over 40 degrees for more than two days, he told a state newspaper in Hubei.
Across the country, hospitals in China are reporting an increase in respiratory infections and thus an increasing overload of the healthcare system. The government says the reason for the wave of illness is that various respiratory diseases are circulating at the same time. These include Covid-19, the flu and infections with the pneumonia bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
Chinese authorities respond evasively to questions
So far, Chinese authorities have responded rather evasively to questions from the international community. There is great concern, especially in neighboring countries, that an outbreak could spread. The reason for the KP’s unwillingness to provide more information is likely to be the leadership’s fear that a debate from the past that they find unpleasant will start again: the question of the origin of the coronavirus. The political pressure is so great that many Chinese scientists apparently prefer not to comment publicly on the outbreak.
But even if detailed information is missing, experts are unlikely to assume that a new, previously unknown pathogen is circulating in China. “In that case, one would expect many more infections, including among adults,” says Paul Hunter, infection expert at the British University of East Anglia in Norwich. It currently seems more likely that the usual respiratory diseases will come back with force after the end of the long and strict Corona rules – and will now particularly affect the youngest people.
Because, says Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Australia’s Deakin University in Melbourne: Younger children in China have usually not come into contact with the usual pathogens and do not have the same level of immunity as children at other times. China has imposed strict restrictions during the corona pandemic. Until the beginning of December 2022, the party leadership forced the country into months of lockdowns, daily mass testing and quarantine.
The immunity of adults may also have weakened somewhat during the years of Corona measures, which is why mothers may pass on less protective antibodies to their babies. The newborns would therefore start life with less nest protection. All of this can lead to typical pathogens of the winter season such as – now – Sars-CoV-2, the flu virus and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hitting more susceptible children.
Stronger waves of infection among children were also observed in other countries after the Corona protective measures were lifted. What is rather unusual, however, is the apparently high proportion of pneumonia and severe cases in China. It could be partly due to the bacterium with which the waiting man’s daughter was also infected in Hubei.
The pathogen is a typical cause of pneumonia and has been circulating relatively vigorously in China for around two months. Contrary to the impression that has often arisen in recent days, this was no secret: since October, schools and kindergartens have started informing parents and taking preventative measures.
According to studies, the pathogen has developed strong resistance to common antibiotics, especially in Asia. “There are also reports from Taiwan that suggest a high rate of resistance. This could be a reason why more children need to be treated in clinics,” says Raina MacIntyre, an infection expert at the Australian University of New South Wales in Sydney: ” But influenza can also cause pneumonia and can be very severe and even fatal in small children. RSV and Sars-CoV-2 can also be serious.” It is also possible that some children are infected with more than one pathogen – and therefore become ill more severely and for a longer period of time.
People are clearly wearing masks more often again
China’s state media is trying to reassure the population: Doctors from well-known hospitals talk on television about the wave of illness, for example about the rumor that Mycoplasma pneumoniae could be a mutation of Sars-Cov-2. Parents are urged not to take their children to the hospital immediately if they have a slight fever or milder symptoms. The Chinese healthcare system is considered chronically overburdened. There are hardly any family doctor practices. Even without a wave of illness, patients sometimes have to wait weeks for appointments with specialists. Even with a mild cold, parents take their children to the hospital – which leads to overwork even more quickly.
The news of renewed school closures and disinfection campaigns with people in white body suits are causing great unrest among many Chinese: the memory of the pandemic is still awake. Many parents no longer take their children to playgrounds or shopping centers. The fear is hard to ignore: more Chinese people are wearing masks in public places, airports and train stations.