2023-11-25 03:20:00
Pulmonology experts analyzed the current pneumonia outbreak in China for Infobae (AP)
Information about a new outbreak of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in China raised global alarms about the cause of the cases, which led to the collapse of several hospitals in the north of the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) “officially requested detailed information on an increase in respiratory diseases and pneumonia clusters reported in children,” and the health authorities of the Asian giant reported that the increase in cases is due to seasonal germs. typical and “not to any new pathogen.”
About this, Infobae consulted specialists participating in the 51st Argentine Congress of Respiratory Medicine, organized by the Argentine Association of Respiratory Medicine (AAMR), which takes place in Buenos Aires until this Sunday, November 26, who gave the three keys that, In his opinion, they allow us to understand the new health crisis that China is going through.
A spike in undiagnosed pneumonia in children overwhelmed several hospitals in northern China (Getty)
1- It is the concurrence of several pathogens
In the opinion of pulmonologist Laura Pulido (MP 26371), coordinator of the Respiratory Infections section of the AAMR and the Pneumonology area of the Italian Hospital of Rosario, “this is something that has already been repeated in other countries.”
“There is talk of the concurrence of several pathogens: the bacteria mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a frequent cause of pneumonia among young people, added to the coronavirus, the respiratory syncytial virus and influenza,” said the specialist, for whom this scenario accounts for two situations.
And after ensuring that, on the one hand, “this denotes that since the pandemic the circulation of viruses was altered, and no longer seasonal,” on the other, he highlighted: “This bacteria [mycoplasma pneumoniae] “We are seeing a percentage of resistance to antibiotics, since it is a bacteria that is usually easily treated with this type of medication and progresses without major difficulties.”
“That a common bacteria generates a spike is something that should alert us, since it speaks to the problem of resistance to antibiotics,” he remarked.
As happened in other countries when restrictions due to the pandemic were lifted, cases of respiratory diseases are expected to increase (Efe)
Marco Antonio Solis Aramayo is a bronchoscopist pulmonologist (MN 124242) and professor of Pneumonology at the Universidad Privada del Valle Cochabamba, in Bolivia. When consulted by this media, he analyzed: “To say that it is a new pathogen is to talk about a new germ that we do not know, and in reality this is most likely not a new pathogen, but rather the pathogens that we are in contact with are mutating, “They change their information, and generate new diseases, sometimes with similar symptoms but with different evolutions due to the lack of knowledge of our immune system towards these new mutations.”
The two clear examples of this – according to the expert – “are influenza, whose mutation in 2009 generated the first pandemic and currently COVID, which is actually caused by a coronavirus, which is not a new pathogen either, but rather the variation of SARS-CoV-2 was what generated the pandemic due to that mutation that existed.”
In his opinion, “it is not a totally unknown new pathogen but rather mutations of pathogens and the lack of knowledge of these by the immune system that generates the ‘new’ disease.”
For experts, the first winter without zero COVID policies in China is one of the causes of the pneumonia outbreak (AP)
2- The consequences of COVID zero
On the other hand, the experts agreed that, “as happened in other countries when restrictions due to the pandemic were lifted, it is expected that cases of respiratory diseases will increase.”
“The restrictive measures taken for COVID are for all viruses, so when they begin to circulate, these are the consequences,” said Pulido, who stressed that the solution is not to continue with the restrictions but to implement a series of prevention measures that the pandemic left behind: “At the AAMR we have a series of guidelines, which aim not to be afraid but to take care of ourselves in certain aspects, such as maintaining the ventilation of spaces, the use of a mask, for example if a person “With respiratory symptoms, you are going to go to a place with a lot of people, and already have your vaccination up to date.”
Meanwhile, Solis Aramayo added: “What the isolation policies that were adopted due to COVID generated is that, when people come back into contact with common germs, they produce slightly more aggressive symptoms because people spent two years without contact with that germ, then the immune system is recognizing it again.”
And in that sense, he highlighted that “there is also a collapse in the entire public health or health system in general due to the lack of attention to other pathologies — such as coronary, oncological and other diseases that have not been observed due to isolation. Something that, for example, is being seen in many Latin American countries is the increase in patients with tuberculosis, who due to isolation have not been able to have adequate consultations and who already arrive with really very aggressive diseases due to the impossibility of making consultations in the right moment”.
So, for him, “this collapse that can now also occur in winter due to active infections has a little to do with not having been in contact with germs for a while, to which is added the presence of diseases that are not “They have been able to see during the time of COVID isolation.”
Pulido: “Since the pandemic, the circulation of viruses was altered, and it was no longer seasonal” (Efe)
3- The particularities of Chinese society
Asked about whether this health crisis that China is going through could be replicated in the rest of the world, Pulido considered that “it is a society with very particular characteristics that could hardly be extrapolated to other countries.”
And he elaborated: “Although China is characterized by its zero COVID policy, and the use of a mask has been customary in that country since before the pandemic, the truth is that its health policies are very different, as are the crowds of people. that they take place there, that they are not recorded anywhere else on the planet.” “In addition, in vaccination policy, their coverage rates are much lower than, for example, Argentina,” the expert said. “It would be comparing different populations with different realities.”
For Solis Aramayo, “the possibility of replicating a new pandemic or a new generation of infections with new strains or variables of a known pathogen is always latent.” However, he highlighted that “this is benefited by the possibility of transmission of germs, first from person to person — which was seen with COVID that its contagiousness was so high that it obviously led to the collapse of the health system — but also Compared to pandemics in past centuries, the possibility of travel between countries, which is now much more accessible, facilitates the transport of germs with humans as hosts.”
From November 23 to 26, at the Buenos Aires Convention Center, the 51st Argentine Congress of Respiratory Medicine takes place with the presence of speakers and participants from all over the world. Among the topics addressed, Pulido highlighted “treatments and diagnostic techniques for pneumonia, respiratory imaging techniques for interstitial lung diseases, new vaccines, kinesiology and respiratory rehabilitation, pneumopediatrics, cystic fibrosis and occupational diseases that are those derived from inhalation of harmful substances in the work environment.
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