Discussed in this episode:
- Just before Thanksgiving, the WHO asked China for data on a surge in respiratory illness that has reportedly led to long lines at hospitals, especially children’s hospitals, in the country’s north.
- China’s responses so far indicate it’s found no new pathogens driving the surge. The country’s health officials attribute it to this being the first cold and flu season since China lifted its strict Zero Covid restrictions earlier this year. In other words: a lot of children in China are getting their first infections with serious respiratory pathogens at the same time, because COVID precautions prevented them from getting sick for most of the past three years. (That doesn’t mean there’s more disease than there would be without the COVID restrictions — just more at the same time.)
To send in questions: [email protected]
Podcast music credit: Now Son by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.