Mysterious child pneumonia cases spike in parts of Europe as COVID-like surge continues in China

Mysterious child pneumonia cases spike in parts of Europe as COVID-like surge continues in China, per NYP.

According to the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), last week witnessed an unexpected rise in pneumonia cases, with 80 out of every 100,000 children aged 5 to 15 receiving treatment. Cases among children aged 4 and under also increased from 124 to 145 per 100,000, marking the largest pneumonia outbreak recorded by the Utrecht-based research institute in recent years.

To provide context, during the peak of the flu season in 2022, there were 60 recorded cases per 100,000 children. Neither NIVEL nor the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands could offer an explanation for the sudden increase in pneumonia cases among children.

It remains unclear whether this health trend in Europe is linked to the rise in mystery respiratory illnesses in parts of China. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese health officials have stated that no new or unusual pathogens were found in the pneumonia cases. The surge in illnesses in China is attributed to children contracting known viruses, such as the flu, rhinoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus, which they had avoided during the two years of COVID restrictions. China's strict lockdown rules were lifted at the end of 2022, marking the first post-COVID flu season in the country. Medical experts in China have suggested that a lack of exposure to common viruses during the extended lockdown has weakened the population's immunity.

In the Netherlands, however, COVID-era measures have been lifted for an extended period, raising questions about the factors triggering this new surge in childhood pneumonia cases.