In China, “the observed increase in respiratory pathogen detections is within the expected range for this time of year during the Northern Hemisphere winter”; “flu is the most commonly detected respiratory pathogen.” He said this in a statement the World Health Organization who clarified that, from contacts with the health authorities of the Asian country, no “reports of unusual outbreak patterns” emerged. Furthermore, “Chinese authorities report that the health system is not overwhelmed and no emergency declarations have been activated.”
The WHO’s intervention comes a few days after the alarm about an alleged increase in respiratory infections – especially metapneumovirus – in the Asian country. “Recently, there has been interest in human metapneumovirus cases in China, with reports of overwhelmed hospitals,” explains WHO. “Human metapneumovirus is a common respiratory virus that circulates in many countries from winter to spring, although not all countries regularly test and publish data on virus trends.”
Data from China’s surveillance system detects no warning signs. They show “an increasing trend in common acute respiratory infections, including those due to seasonal influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumovirus, as expected for this time of year during the Northern Hemisphere winter,” the WHO continues.
As for the agents found, “flu is currently the most reported cause of respiratory disease, with the highest positivity rate among all pathogens monitored for all age groups, except children aged 5 to 14 years for which Mycoplasma pneumoniae had the highest positivity rate.”
The EU: ‘So far there is no risk of a metapneumovirus pandemic’. “I can assure you that for the moment there is no need to prepare for a new pandemic. We are of course aware of the media reports and the situation in China. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control An agency of the European Union (ECDC ) is monitoring the situation very carefully and it will be discussed by the health committee and monitored also in the coming weeks.” This was said by European Commission spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova when asked about the metapneumovirus in China and the various news reports in the international media relating to the anomalous increase in infections and hospitalizations from the virus.
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