After being held responsible for concealing the COVID pandemic, resulting in millions of deaths worldwide, China has again come under the spotlight. This time, China is hit by a wave of “Mycoplasma pneumoniae,” a.k.a. Walking pneumoniae. Prima facie, this respiratory disease is rapidly targeting children. The resurgence of this respiratory pathogen surged as China eased strict COVID-19 restrictions. The news regarding the pneumonia outbreak was first reported by ProMED, which tracks outbreaks of infectious diseases around the world. It warned of “undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.” This report alerted the entire world, which is still coping with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO has also asked China to disclose information about a surge in respiratory illnesses in children. In this article, we are going to dig into the emerging details regarding this outbreak and how it is affecting the world.
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WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE?
Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a bacterial infection that causes mild respiratory diseases like colds and coughs but can also cause more serious lung infections. Although it rarely requires hospitalisation, in the case of young kids with a nascent immune system, it could lead to greater risks. It can be transmitted through droplets from an infected person or close contact. Statistics from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention showed the bacterial positivity rate was climbing steadily in October. In a press briefing, Tong Zhaohui, vice dean of Chaoyang Hospital, China’s top medical centre for respiratory diseases, stated that the positivity rate among children is rising to 40% as compared to 6% among adults. It is also seen that drugs like azithromycin and others rendered unresponsive in around 70% of adult cases and up to 80% of cases in kids.
With the surging number of positive cases among children, all the paediatric medical centres across the country are overwhelmed with patients. The state media, including CCTV, have reported that local branches of the China CDC in Beijing, Tianjin, and Liaoning are flooded with mycoplasma infections. While other illnesses such as flu and respiratory syncytial virus are on the rise, what is pertinent to note is that Beijing and Liaoning are 800 km apart. This means the epidemic isn’t localised anymore and is spreading like wildfire. Chinese health care is overwhelmed with the numbers and isn’t able to cater to the requirements. Rapidly surging numbers, coupled with their drug-resistant nature, have made Mycoplasma pneumoniae a potential pandemic-grade infection.
CHINA’S CRIME OF CONCEALING INFORMATION
The biggest obstacle hindering global efforts to control disease outbreaks emerging from China is its habit of concealing information. The world has already paid a price in human lives for China’s egregious act of secrecy during the COVID pandemic. China actively withheld information and downplayed the COVID outbreak. Chinese authorities even detained journalists reporting from Wuhan regarding the extent of the outbreak. Zhang Zhan, a then-39-year-old lawyer, was detained on May 15, 2020, for the crime of reporting the COVID outbreak in China. Ms. Zhang, even today, remains in prison. She is one of many citizen journalists who were subjected to arbitrary arrests for the crime of reporting. Along with her, videographer Li Zehua, lawyer Chen Qiushi, and resident Fang Bin were also subsequently arrested. Li Zehua and Chen Qiushi have been released after lengthy detentions; Fang Bin is still in a detention facility in Wuhan.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: LI ZEHUA, FANG BIN, CHEN QIUSHI.
Zhang Zhan, on the other hand, has been sentenced to a four-year jail term. These are just a few of several journalists and clinicians arrested on the same lines. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a one-time occurrence. A similar plight was suffered by those who sought transparency on the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) 17 years earlier. One such person was Jiang Yanyong, a military doctor and officer of the PLA, who exposed the extent of the SARS outbreak amid widespread government censorship. In April 2003, he further alerted the global media about the fact that hundreds of SARS cases were being concealed by China. Consequently, he was subjected to periods of arbitrary detention, house arrest, and “re-education.” During the COVID emergency, Jiang was again detained and held under house arrest. He was prevented from speaking to any independent media until his death at the age of 91 this year.
CONCLUSION
The world is facing yet another possible pandemic in the future, but this time we need to learn from our previous follies. Firstly, nations must pressurise WHO to provide real-time data regarding the nature and extent of outbreaks. Secondly, it’s time to hold China accountable for its duties as a global partner to coordinate with the world. The world can’t risk another devastation of wealth and human lives due to the secrecy of a rogue nation. Lastly, it is again on the shoulders of scientists to come up with a cure, considering its drug-resistant nature. Europe and the US have already started reporting cases. India, too, reported seven cases of the same. Learning from the past, nations must formulate a streamlined vaccine distribution system to support one another. In a nutshell, this time we need to nibble it in the bud before it wreaks havoc.
