I am hoping that the world will have a handle on the latest outbreak.

i think scientists, in particular, learnt a alot from COVID. It sed to take years to develop vaccines to new diseases. With ebola they reduced it to 18 months and with COVID to six months.

Just looked this up, apparently it is being put down to the first winter post Covid without draconian lockdowns therefore many children have not built up any natural immunity to common respiratory infections.

Yes that apparently is a possible explanation, but the WHO are investigating it in some detail as being “unexplained”

There does seem to be a suggestion that it is spreading.

Let’s hope it is nothing, but I hope that it is being properly managed.

Stop the flights!

China again. I don’t trust them.

M0nica

i think scientists, in particular, learnt a alot from COVID. It sed to take years to develop vaccines to new diseases. With ebola they reduced it to 18 months and with COVID to six months.

I think, M0nica, that that was in large part due to the fact that they didn't have to spend years trying to get grants for developing vaccines. In the emergency situations of ebola and covid, the money came from governments so that the work could be done asap. Of course, scientists are always making progress in ways of developing vaccines, and a lot has been learned about m-RNA vaccines from covid, I believe, but sometimes it's about getting the money quickly.

We had a winter surge of strep throats and RSV in children after mask wearing reduced. China only stopped their mandatory mask wearing in April this year.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that it's a covid variant. After all, the world has been behaving as though covid were over for the past 18 months or so and it most definitely ISN'T.

I'm seeing reports of research that sows that covid affects every part of the body; all the internal organs, and weakens the immune system, leaving it open to serious harm from other pathogens. Repeated infections make the damage worse.

Our schoolchildren are showing unprecedented rates of sickness absence from school. I wonder why?

The covid inquiry is keeping covid in the news, but not in the right way, IMO. A question that should be asked of witnesses is " Why is this harmful virus still at large, still killing and disabling people, with no attempt on the part of the government and health services to prevent the harm it's doing?"

The Chinese constantly wear masks long before Covid gave us any problems I m sure it’s a cat and mouse game wear masks to stop catching something but if you never catch anything you never have any immunity

Well, catching covid doesn't give you any immunity either.

I think it might be better to look at other Asian countries where mask wearing is commonplace to see how they are faring now, rather than to place the blame for an upsurge in illness on de-masking..

This 'immunity' thing really bothers me. We don't have immunity from colds and flu just because we've had them once, we go on getting them, so where is the 'immunity'?

And no-one was 'immune' from TB, smallpox, diptheria, polio, etc, etc until vaccines were developed to prevent people catching them. I think that belief in 'natural immunity' is a very dangerous.

What is the evidence that wearing masks slows down or stops transmission of the COVID virus?

The main reason many people in Asian nations wear face maskes is to combat severe air pollution. The particles causing air pollition are much bigger than viral bodies.

The research evidence is out there if you care to look for it, MOnica.

It does, of course, depend on the quality of the masks. The blue surgical masks which many people used were far less effective than the higher spec. N95 or FFP3, but even so, provided something of a double barrier to the virus particles. They were, of course, only designed to stop droplets, not aerosols.

I understand that Asians also wear masks when they have a respiratory illness in order to lessen the chances of infecting others.

We have to live with it, some will die no doubt as they do from flue. All life has its problems and I do think now we just have to accept it not going away, it's mutating quicker than we develop vacinnes.

I am very worried because a close relative has recently returned from a month touring holiday from China. I don’t know if there are any symptoms but they visited about four different parts of the country. There is an incubation period which is the main concern.

I wonder why these latest pandemics originate in China. Is it because of the size of their population, is it because of something in their diet or is it some experiment gone wrong ? I am sure we will never know but it would be helpful if we did, if only to avoid doing or exposing ourselves to whatever it is.

I don't think it's been declared a pandemic, nanna8. It's just an issue that's concerning people.

Whitewavemark2

Yes that apparently is a possible explanation, but the WHO are investigating it in some detail as being “unexplained”

There does seem to be a suggestion that it is spreading.

Let’s hope it is nothing, but I hope that it is being properly managed.

I share your unease Whitewave and lack of confidence in the Chinese authorities’ willingness to share data .
I was reminded of this lack of information back in 2019 by an article in this mornings DT

Back on December 31 2019, World Health Organisation staff in China picked up the first indications of a health scare in Wuhan from local media and a report by ProMed, a surveillance programme run by the International Society for Infectious Diseases. The WHO immediately sought clarification from the Chinese authorities; three days later, they replied, referring to a “cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause ”.
What many now believe to be the “managed” flow of incomplete, ambiguous and unreliable data fed to the WHO by the Chinese government has gone down in history as a major potential contributor to the subsequent spread of Covid-19. But could there now be a risk of history repeating itself ?
On Tuesday this week, ProMed issued a notification concerning an apparent epidemic of “undiagnosed pneumonia” in children. On Wednesday, the WHO requested the Chinese authorities to provide clinical data and lab test results on the outbreak, as well as background on recent official indications of a general uptick in respiratory diseases and related burdens on the Chinese healthcare system. Separately, the WHO has reached out directly to its network of Chinese clinicians and scientists for independent information.

Once bitten, twice shy.

This is not a pandemic, not even an epidemic. it is restricted to one region of China. While COVID 19 did come from China, China has not been the source of many epidemics.

The main cause of epi/pandemics is the transmission of animal viruses to humans, and that only takes place where mainly wild animals come in contact with humans in an unregulated way.

In a number of Asian countries wild animals, plus chickens and other animals from small holdings are sold in markets where animal faeces, urine and other waste products pass between animals and humans. In Africa in many areas there is a tradition of eating 'bush meat', animals culled from the wild, again in conditions that can lead to the easy transmission of viruses between man and animal, then in crowded living conditons, once the transfer is made it spreads like wild fire. Think of the problems with Ebola and lassa disease.

In Europe and the Americas, this is why we have such very strict hygene rulse governing the rearing and slaughter of all animals meant for human consumption

But it is worth remembering that the 'Spanish' flu of 1918, started in pig farms in the mid-west USA and spread so fast because many of the army training camps for US soldiers going over to fight in Europe. They brought the flu with them on the troop ships.

Once cultural limitations in some cases and high hygiene safety rules for animals prevail in countries that do nto have them at present, then the opportunities for these pandemic diseases to develop and spread will be limited.

Yes, I do know about the lab escape cause for COVID 19, but that is a seperate issue. Most epidemics come from animal to man transmission.

M0nica

Yes, I do know about the lab escape cause for COVID 19, but that is a seperate issue. Most epidemics come from animal to man transmission.

It’s not exactly an overwhelming majority M0nica
About 60% of human infections have animal origins , whereas 40% either co-evolved with humans or emerged from non-zoonotic environmental sources

BlueBelle

The Chinese constantly wear masks long before Covid gave us any problems I m sure it’s a cat and mouse game wear masks to stop catching something but if you never catch anything you never have any immunity

You seem to be saying that people become immune by catching a virus.

I'm puzzled by this because it means that people still catch it, but at a different time. Why is that any better? They still catch it!

Allsorts

We have to live with it, some will die no doubt as they do from flue. All life has its problems and I do think now we just have to accept it not going away, it's mutating quicker than we develop vacinnes.

It's up to you what you do, but personally if there's a potentially deadly virus circulating in high numbers, I want to know about it and take precautionary measures. I'm all for cutting my risk of dying in the near future if possible.

M0nica

What is the evidence that wearing masks slows down or stops transmission of the COVID virus?

The main reason many people in Asian nations wear face maskes is to combat severe air pollution. The particles causing air pollition are much bigger than viral bodies.

There's loads of evidence if you look for it MOnica.

Obviously it would be unethical to do lab controlled trials. Scientists can't put people into a Covid infected area with half masked and half unmasked because the evidence is very strong that the unmasked are being deliberately infected and some would die.

However, there have been many research studies on crowds in indoor spaces, where masking has been optional. There is also much scientific data about the transmission of water droplets, which is one of the main ways Covid is transmitted.

MaizieD

Well, catching covid doesn't give you any immunity either.

I think it might be better to look at other Asian countries where mask wearing is commonplace to see how they are faring now, rather than to place the blame for an upsurge in illness on de-masking..

This 'immunity' thing really bothers me. We don't have immunity from colds and flu just because we've had them once, we go on getting them, so where is the 'immunity'?

And no-one was 'immune' from TB, smallpox, diptheria, polio, etc, etc until vaccines were developed to prevent people catching them. I think that belief in 'natural immunity' is a very dangerous.

It bothers me too. It reminds me of the kind of thing my grandmother would have come out with.