Chinese health experts are working to reassure the public about the recent spike in respiratory illnesses and are pointing the blame at western media outlets for “disregarding both common sense and facts.”

Chinese Communist Party officials are denying rumors on social media that the recent surge in respiratory illness is caused by mutations of coronavirus or immune deficiency induced by the coronavirus, claiming that the current pathogens are completely different from the COVID pathogen.

Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases in Shanghai, explained in a post that the public does not need to be alarmed when people test positive for multiple pathogens. 

According to Zhang, “it could simply be a result of more powerful testing kits.”

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Children and their parents wait at an outpatient area at a children’s hospital in Beijing, Nov. 23, 2023. (Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)

In the article, Zhang claims that influenza peaks are common at this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and is defending China by saying it shared the virus gene sequences with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database, briefed the WHO, and reported relevant info to the Chinese media.

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A nurse treats a child at Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Nov. 26, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. (Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

One expert stated that “some Western people have fallen into an abnormal hysteria toward China, coupled with the relative decline of Western governance capabilities,” according to the article. 

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Parents with children suffering from respiratory diseases line up at a children’s hospital Nov. 23 in Chongqing, China. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

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While it rarely happens, Zhang warned the public that it is important to learn to monitor when respiratory cases become severe, as influenza could lead to pneumonia and breathing difficulties.