ProMed (Emerging Disease Monitoring Program) issued a report on Tuesday night (21) about a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that is overwhelming children’s hospitals in some cities in China, including the capital, Beijing, raising the alert of a new epidemic.
“This report suggests a widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory disease in several areas in China, as Beijing and Liaoning are almost 800 km apart. It is unclear when this outbreak began, as it would be unusual for so many children to be affected so quickly. The report does not mention which adults were affected, suggesting some exposure in schools. ProMed awaits more definitive information on the etiology and extent of this worrying disease in China”, says the document.
FTV News, a Taiwanese broadcaster, heard from a resident of Beijing, a city where a children’s hospital was overcrowded yesterday morning.
“Many, many are hospitalized. They do not cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature [febre] and many develop lung nodules”, reported the citizen, identified only as Wei.
Another resident of the Chinese capital said that parents are not allowed to report cases to schools. If children have any symptoms, such as fever, cold and cough, they are hospitalized immediately.
The situation is also worrying at Dalian Children’s Hospital in Liaoning Province, where there were dozens of children who were receiving intravenous medication.
“Patients have to wait in line for two hours,” an employee there also told the Taiwanese broadcaster.
Many schools in these locations have already canceled classes, and others are considering temporarily suspending them.
To date, neither the National Health Commission nor China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a position on the outbreak.
