GENEVA – World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern on Wednesday about the increase in diseases respiratory in China and asked the population to “take measures” for protection, according to a statement published on the social network X.
“The WHO addressed an official request to China to obtain detailed information on an increase in respiratory diseases and pneumonia outbreaks in children,” said the bulletin, which recommends taking “measures to reduce the risk of respiratory disease.”
Chinese authorities and media reported an increase in respiratory illnesses, including pockets of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in the north of the country.
On November 22, the WHO requested “additional epidemiological and clinical information, as well as laboratory results of the outbreaks detected in children.”
He also requested “complementary information on recent trends in the circulation of known pathogens, especially influenza, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for COVID-19), RSV that affects babies and mycoplasma pneumoniae, as well as degree of congestion in the health system,” the statement added.
China imposes measures similar to those of COVID-19
The organization noted that Chinese authorities attribute this increase in respiratory diseases to the lifting of anti-Covid restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens.
The measures proposed to China are similar to those applied during the COVID-19 pandemic: vaccination, keeping distance from the sick, staying home in case of symptoms, taking tests and wearing a mask if necessary, in addition to ventilating the premises well. and wash your hands well.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, whose first cases were detected in China at the end of 2019, the WHO criticized Beijing on numerous occasions for a lack of transparency and cooperation.
The WHO and different countries have also denounced this lack of cooperation from China in the investigation to determine the origins of the pandemic, which has not yet reached definitive conclusions.
FOUNTAIN: With information from AFP
