No concern in Greece from respiratory illness in China for the time being

There is no concern, at least for now, in Greece regarding the surge of respiratory illness in China, according to the data received so far by the National Public Health Organization (EODY). 

The epidemiological surveillance system for respiratory infections in Thessaly set up after the devastating floods in September – the only one for now in Greece – which also checks for mycoplasma pneumonia, has recorded two cases: one a month ago and the second very recently. 

“We are on alert. This year we are strengthening the Sentinel epidemiological surveillance system for respiratory infections with equipment to diagnose many pathogens including mycoplasma and we will soon have a comprehensive picture. But, for the time being, we have no indications of anything alarming,” professor of hygiene and epidemiology at the University of Thessaly and EODY President Christos Hatzichristodoulou told Kathimerini. 

China’s respiratory illness surge is attributed, at least for the time being, to the immunological gap in common respiratory viruses left by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Experts have told Kathimerini that the many cases of pneumonia in children in China are not related to one pathogen, but to many well-known ones that cause respiratory infections, such as RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), influenza, SARS-CoV-2 etc, which are on the rise in China this year due to the delayed lifting of pandemic restrictions in that country. 

Experts estimate that outbreaks of respiratory infections at higher-than-expected levels will continue to plague humanity for at least two to three more years until the immunological vacuum of the pandemic is filled.