Another Mysterious New Virus Breaks Out in China | China Truths

Welcome to China Truths. In this episode, we will bring you the following story. Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, another mysterious new virus breaks out in China. Now, let's dive into the details. China Truths Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, another mysterious new virus breaks out in China. An epidemic caused by a mysterious virus is overwhelming some hospitals in China and prompting people to put on masks again. Videos on social media show that medical units in China are overwhelmed. Late at night, anxious parents were still carrying their sick children to seek medical treatment, causing long queues in the pediatric departments. There are also unconfirmed reports online that the crematoriums are overwhelmed. The videos, combined with the lack of official explanation, have reminded some of the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak. Chinese media claim that human metapneumovirus HMPV is the culprit of this epidemic. However, officials have not yet confirmed the relevant claims. This situation is similar to the situation in the winter of 2022-2023, when respiratory-related cases also increased rapidly in China, but the CCP officials claimed at the time that the pneumonia epidemic was caused by mycoplasma pneumoniae. HMPV often causes cold-like symptoms, including fever, cough, runny nose, and wheezing. In severe cases, it can lead to bronchitis or pneumonia, and children are at higher risk of severe illness. The virus can be spread by droplets or close contact with contaminated surfaces. Therefore, it is extremely contagious in crowded environments. The virus can invade all age groups, among which children under 5 years old, the elderly, and people with low immunity are high-risk groups. The only way to deal with the virus is symptomatic treatment, with no effective vaccine or antiviral drugs. In November last year, the World Health Organization emphasized in an announcement that respiratory infection cases were increasing rapidly, noting that the number of infections had been on the rise since October. Although Chinese social media is awash with claims that hospitals are overcrowded, the CCP has issued no official report acknowledging the critical situation. Neither the Beijing authorities nor the WHO provided an explanation for the videos circulating on Chinese social media. China National Center for Disease Control and Prevention only admitted that between December 23 and 29 last year, the overall number of acute respiratory infectious diseases showed a continuous upward trend. The CCP claims that common influenza viruses are the main cause of the epidemic, with 30.2% of test results showing positive for influenza, and one in every seven people hospitalized with severe respiratory illness testing positive for influenza. However, this prevalence level is higher than the infection level in the same week of every flu season since 2021.