A new wave of pneumonia cases hitting children and clusters of other respiratory illnesses have been detected in China’s northern regions, raising certain fears a new novel pathogen could be on the loose.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday it has requested information from the Chinese government about recent trends in the circulation of known pathogens including influenza, coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and mycoplasma in northern China, and the reported burden they are causing healthcare systems.
It said it is also in contact with clinicians and scientists through its existing technical partnerships and networks in China. A state-run China Daily report referred to the wave of cases as “walking pneumonia” as they often do not require hospitalization.
Zhang Lei, director of the Shanghai Maternity and Child Care Center’s health education unit, said the large-scale mycoplasma infection outbreak owes to the fact many children stayed home over the past three years during the Covid-19 pandemic and now have low levels of antibodies to ward off disease.
However, it’s unclear why China appears to be the only country facing a major mycoplasma outbreak, while the US and much of Europe have contended with flu and RSV.
The China Youth Daily, operated by the Communist Youth League of China, reported Friday that the number of patients with coughs and fevers at Beijing hospitals spiked this week, straining the healthcare system’s capacity.
The report said it now takes about eight to ten hours for people to see a doctor at Peking University First Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Chinese health authorities have not yet announced the total number of infections in the country. They have said the epidemic was caused by a mix of known, not new, pathogens including mycoplasma, RSV, adenovirus and influenza.
The Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued a notice on Friday requiring all local governments to prevent and control new coronavirus infections and other key infectious diseases.
“Since October 2023, influenza and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection activities have gradually increased in our country,” said the epidemic control body. “It is expected that the spread of influenza will peak in winter and spring, and mycoplasma pneumoniae infection will continue to be high in some areas.”
“This winter and next spring, our country will see a lot of cross infection cases caused by multiple respiratory diseases such as Covid-19, influenza, and mycoplasma pneumoniae infections,” it added.
“Beijing has entered a high season of respiratory infectious diseases,” said Wang Quanyi, deputy director and chief epidemiological expert at the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “The city is currently showing a trend of multiple pathogens coexisting.”
“People who have been infected with one type of respiratory infectious disease can be infected with other types, resulting in cross infections,” Wang said.
He said as this year’s influenza season started earlier than in previous years, it will probably end earlier. He added that the most common strain of influenza is the H3N2 subtype.
Li Yuechuan, director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Tianjin Chest Hospital, said mycoplasma is a pathogen smaller than bacteria but bigger than viruses.
Li said mycoplasma-infected patients usually have a fever of around 38℃ instead of above 39℃. However, he said these patients will have more serious headaches and coughs than those who are infected with the influenza A virus.
He added that mycoplasma infections can lead to rash, meningitis and hemolytic anemia among children.
As mycoplasma lacks a cell wall around its cell membrane, it is naturally resistant to antibiotics such as penicillin, which can bind with proteins on bacteria cell walls, according to medical experts.
Antibiotics such as Azithromycin, which can suppress the replication of bacterial proteins, are more suitable for curing those infected by mycoplasma.
Qin Fang, a deputy director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Beijing’s Emergency General Hospital, said the incubation period of mycoplasma pneumonia ranges between one to three weeks while the infectious period can last for two to three more weeks.
She claimed that serious patients only accounted for a very small portion of the cases.
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