A PROFESSOR has "blamed" China's strict lockdown for the mystery pneumonia currently sweeping across the country.
Hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning are reportedly "overwhelmed with sick children" who have symptoms such as inflammation in the lungs and a high fever but no cough.
ProMed - a system that monitors global disease outbreaks and was one of the first groups to identify the dangers of Covid - issued a warning on Tuesday.
Officials had reported an increase in "influenza-like illness" since mid-October when compared to the same period in the last three years, WHO said.
The World Health Organisation is now asking for "detailed" information on the epidemic.
Professor Francois Balloux, from the UCL Genetics Institute, explained that China is likely going through "lockdown exit" waves of respiratory infections after the country lifted strict lockdown restrictions.
“China is likely experiencing a major wave of childhood respiratory infections now as this is the first winter after their lengthy lockdown, which must have drastically reduced the circulation of respiratory bugs, and hence decreased immunity to endemic bugs," he said.
Professor Balloux added that other countries, including the UK, experienced big waves of respiratory infections and hospitalisations in children during their first winter after pandemic restrictions had been lifted.
However, "since China experienced a far longer and harsher lockdown than essentially any other country on earth, it was anticipated that those 'lockdown exit' waves could be substantial," he said.
The UCL expert reassured that there is no reason to suspect the emergence of a novel pathogen unless new evidence emerges.
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Professor Paul Hunter, at the University of East Anglia, shared a similar view that more evidence needs to be presented before making a definitive diagnosis.
"At present there is too little information to make a definitive diagnosis of what is causing this epidemic in China," he said.
“Overall, this does not sound to me like an epidemic due to a novel virus.
"If it was, I would expect to see many more infections in adults. The few infections reported in adults suggest existing immunity from a prior exposure."
Dr Zania Stamataki, from the University of Birmingham, added that as restrictions lifted and children mixed, it is likely that single respiratory infections or coinfections "occur in a background of already circulating harmless viruses, which may cause a more severe disease".
Last year, China was desperately clinging onto its "zero Covid" strategy as officials banned 13 million people from going outside as they faced starvation and brutal punishments.
The country was racing to control one of its worst outbreaks in a single city since the beginning of the pandemic with a sweeping lockdown and draconian restrictions.
China's brutal "zero Covid" policy saw extreme restrictions in the infected areas, tight border control and lengthy quarantines as the country prepared for the Winter Olympics in February 2022.
The 13 million people living in the northern city of Xian had been banned from leaving their homes - even for essential reasons like buying food - to squash the rising tide of Covid infections.
