Dr Catherine Conlon: Respiratory illness clusters in China

SINCE MID-OCTOBER THE World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring reports of an increase in respiratory illness in children in northern China. In mid-November, China's National Health Commission reported a nationwide increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases predominantly affecting young children. Health authorities attributed this increase to the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, the arrival of the cold season and circulating known pathogens such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), SARS-CoV-2, influenza and mycoplasma pneumonia. Both RSV and mycoplasma pneumonia are more common in children. On 22 November, following reports of clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children's hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning…