Another country, the Netherlands, has reported a concerning rise in pneumonia cases among children following an outbreak of the illness in China.
Many parts of China have been hit by the surprising surge in respiratory illnesses, which have particularly affected children. Northern provinces in China have experienced a jump in flu-like illnesses for five weeks straight since mid-October.
The fast spread of the coronavirus in 2020 prompted strict public health restrictions and quarantine measures. Several nations are on edge given China's recent uptick in respiratory illnesses. The ailments have strained China's hospital system and are reminiscent of the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan in December 2019.
Chinese officials have since announced they believe the uptick is a combination of common illnesses like the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, which have spread easily after China recently relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) has reported an uptick in pneumonia cases, particularly among children. In the past week, 80 out of every 100,000 children between ages 5 and 14 came down with pneumonia, The Messenger reported.
It is the country's largest pneumonia outbreak in several years, higher than the peak of flu season in 2022, when 60 pneumonia cases were recorded for every 100,000 children in the same age group.
Newsweek reached out to NIVEL by email for comment.
The Netherlands has relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions for quite some time, fueling concerns that an epidemic is on the rise in China.
The rise in cases has spurred several other countries, like Taiwan, India and Vietnam, to take preventive measures, such as assessing their public health systems and ensuring there's a supply of personal protective equipment and medication on hand.
More than 6 percent of hospital cases were attributed to flu-like illnesses in northern China, a steep increase over past years, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.
Images of people cleaning China's streets while wearing hazmat suits triggered memories of the country's actions during the COVID-19 crisis. China was heavily criticized for its lack of transparency during the pandemic, but officials are attempting to quell the rising panic, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"CDC is in touch with local health authorities and its country office in China. Initial reports indicate that there have been simultaneous increases in a number of known respiratory illnesses, resulting in a spike in hospitalizations," a CDC spokesperson told Newsweek. "We continue to monitor the situation, collaborating with global health partners."
Maria Van Kerkhove, the acting director of the WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, has issued assurances that China's spike in illnesses is not the same as the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said that China is battling an uptick in respiratory illnesses during its first full winter since relaxing COVID-19 restrictions, an ordeal similar to "what most countries dealt with a year or two ago."
"This is not the same situation that we were in in December 2019 and January 2020," she told health news outlet STAT in an interview last Friday.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
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