Several viral social media posts claim that China has declared a state of emergency as several respiratory viruses spread rapidly across the country.
“⚠️ BREAKING: China 🇨🇳 Declares State of Emergency as Epidemic Overwhelms Hospitals and Crematoriums. Multiple viruses, including Influenza A, HMPV, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and COVID-19, are spreading rapidly across China,” reads one X post with more than 7.3 million views. “🚨mystery disease outbreak in china overwhelms hospitals,” reads a similar post on Instagram.
The posts are mostly false. Chinese authorities have reported an increase in some respiratory infections, but the increases are in line with seasonal trends and no state of emergency has been declared.
According to global health authorities, respiratory infections have increased in China through December and early January. “China is experiencing a large outbreak of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases at the moment,” Sanjaya Senanayake, a specialist in infectious diseases at the Australian National University told Politico on Monday. “Although this is a priority for China’s health system, it should not lead to immediate concerns about a new pandemic.”
Respiratory infections typically surge during winter months, however, and are not unusual or unexpected. “Although there has been a recent rise in acute respiratory infections, including seasonal influenza, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and HMPV, particularly in northern provinces of China, the overall scale and intensity of respiratory infectious diseases in China this year are lower than last year,” a representative for the World Health Organization told The Dispatch Fact Check in an email. “A seasonal increase in respiratory pathogens is expected in countries of the northern hemisphere, particularly during the winter period.”
In December, Chinese health officials announced that a new monitoring system for respiratory infections was being trialed in the country and that cases of respiratory infections were expected to increase during the winter. The system should help officials identify, report, verify, and handle unknown pathogens more effectively than in 2019 when COVID-19 first emerged. Unlike COVID-19, however, HMPV is not a novel virus and spreads worldwide every year. According to the Cleveland Clinic, about 10 to 12 percent of respiratory illnesses in children are caused by HMPV. The virus most often presents with similar symptoms to the common cold.
Health officials in the U.S. are aware of increasing HMPV cases in China but are not concerned that the virus presents a high risk to Americans. “[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] (CDC) is aware of reported increases of HMPV in China and is in regular contact with international partners and monitoring reports of increased disease. These reports are not currently a cause for concern in the U.S.,” Gabriel Alvarado, a CDC spokesperson, told The Dispatch Fact Check. “We can expect that existing surveillance systems will rapidly detect any increase in HMPV cases in the U.S.”
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