China’s respiratory illness surge: What we know so far

A surge in respiratory illnesses in China has reportedly overwhelmed hospital wards in the country.

The recent surge in respiratory infections drew the attention last week of the World Health Organization (WHO), which requested that China provide more information about the rise.

Now, figures from China’s state media has suggested that patients – many of them children – were flooding hospitals.

According to China’s state paper, The Global Times, Beijing’s Children’s Hospital was receiving up to 9,378 patients a day – and had been at full capacity for the past two months.

The paper added that outpatient clinics, paediatric clinics and respiratory departments at several hospitals in Beijing were booked out for at least seven days.

State media showed images of what it says crowded waiting rooms and beds lining hallways in one hospital.

There were also reports from parents saying that classrooms were half empty due to students being ill.

A spokesperson for China's National Health Commission said on Sunday that the increase in respiratory illnesses is being caused by common viruses such as influenza, rhinoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus, as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae – and not by a novel virus.

However, the health ministry did call on local authorities to increase the number of fever clinics as China grapples with the surge in its first full winter since easing COVID restrictions.

“Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines,” said ministry spokesperson Mi Feng.

Last week, ProMed – a global information network that monitors global disease outbreaks and was one of the first groups to raise the alarm about coronavirus in 2019 – said hospitals in China were being "overwhelmed".

Both the UK and US saw a spike in respiratory illnesses among children after lockdown restrictions were lifted from the population as years of suppressed circulation hit all at once.

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When did the outbreak start?

The WHO said northern China had reported in mid-October an increase in influenza-like illness compared with the same period in the previous three years.

It said China had systems in place to capture information on trends in illness incidence and to report that data to platforms such as the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System.

In October, China Daily published an interview with Zhou Huixia, a director at a children's medical centre, who said infections had been rising all year but there had been a "particularly ferocious" spike.

What's been happening recently?

In recent days, media in cities such as Xian in the northwest have posted videos of hospitals crowded with parents and children awaiting checks.

Some social media users have posted photos of children doing homework while receiving intravenous drips in hospital.

What has the WHO said?

Last week, the WHO said groups including the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.

The WHO said it was not clear if these were associated with an overall increase in respiratory infections previously reported by Chinese authorities or separate events.

The organization added it had asked for additional epidemiological and clinical information as well as laboratory results from the reported outbreaks among children, through the International Health Regulations mechanism.

On Monday, the WHO said the spike in respiratory illnesses that China is currently suffering is not as high as before the COVID-19 pandemic, reiterating that no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent cases.