China is once again causing global concern with a new virus, and has been accused of not following the same international health guidelines that other countries adhere to. This follows a pattern of behavior seen previously during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chinese government is saying there is nothing major to worry about. When asked by the World Health Organization about reports of widespread clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children, health authorities said the uptick in sick people was due to known pathogens such as influenza, rhinovirus, RSV and mycoplasma.
No new germs have been found, they said. And so far, no deaths have been reported.
That’s probably little comfort to parents who have had to wait several hours in hospitals in Beijing and other cities in the north for their sick children to see a doctor. The scenes of overcrowded hallways and children on intravenous infusions have brought back memories of the early days of Covid, which emerged as a mysterious pneumonia.
The truth is, mycoplasma is not unusual. It is a common pathogen that causes pneumonia among children aged five or above, and it has triggered epidemics in China every two-to-four years.
While it tends to cause only mild colds in older kids and adults with robust immune systems, younger children are prone to develop pneumonia — creating concern on what to do once they get it. China has the world’s highest incidence of mycoplasma that’s resistant to a class of antibiotic called macrolides. Up to 80% of cases in kids don’t respond to the commonly prescribed azithromycin and similar drugs.
Oddly, China appears to be the only country facing a major mycoplasma outbreak. The US and much of Europe are dealing with the flu and RSV. One study showed mycoplasma was subdued in China for almost two years by Covid countermeasures that have since been lifted.
中国再次引起全球对新型病毒的关注，并被指责不遵守其他国家所遵循的国际卫生准则。 这遵循了此前新冠肺炎大流行时期出现的行为模式。
中国政府表示没有什么值得担心的。 当世界卫生组织询问有关儿童广泛出现的未确诊肺炎群的报告时，卫生当局表示，患病人数的增加是由于流感、鼻病毒、呼吸道合胞病毒和支原体等已知病原体造成的。
他们说，没有发现新的细菌。 到目前为止，还没有死亡报告。
对于那些不得不在北京和北方其他城市的医院等待几个小时才能让生病的孩子看医生的父母来说，这可能并不能带来什么安慰。 拥挤的走廊和接受静脉输液的儿童的场景让人们回想起新冠病毒早期的情景，当时它是一种神秘的肺炎。
事实上，支原体并不罕见。 它是导致五岁或以上儿童肺炎的常见病原体，每两到四年在中国引发一次流行。
虽然它往往只会导致免疫系统强大的年龄较大的儿童和成年人患上轻度感冒，但年幼的儿童很容易患上肺炎，从而引发人们对感染后该怎么办的担忧。 中国是世界上支原体发病率最高的国家，这种支原体对大环内酯类抗生素具有耐药性。 高达 80% 的儿童病例对常用的阿奇霉素和类似药物没有反应。
奇怪的是，中国似乎是唯一面临支原体大规模爆发的国家。 美国和欧洲大部分地区正在应对流感和呼吸道合胞病毒。 一项研究显示，由于新冠疫情对策，支原体在中国被抑制了近两年，但后来又取消了。
Now, China is doing that behavior again to the World with China’s new virus. 现在，中国正在用中国的新病毒再次对世界做出这种行为。
China has not played by the same international health rules everyone else has 中国没有遵守其他任何国家都遵守的国际卫生规则