The Union Health Ministry has convened a joint monitoring team and sought timely updates from the World Health Organization after reports of an increase in respiratory disease cases in China. Based on the available information, the Joint Monitoring Group concluded that the situation in China is unusual given the ongoing flu season – respiratory infections see an increase worldwide during the winter months.
The meeting on Saturday also concluded that the current increase in China is likely due to common respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV and HMPV.
HMPV or human metapneumovirus is similar to RSV – the common virus that causes the common cold – and leads to symptoms such as cough, fever, runny nose, and sore throat. Sometimes it can cause more severe symptoms like pneumonia among young and old.
“The government is closely monitoring the situation through all available channels and the WHO has also been asked to share timely updates on the situation in China,” the ministry said in a statement.
In India, doctors have not reported any surgery for respiratory diseases and the ICMR surveillance network, concluded the meeting. The ICMR network routinely tests respiratory disease samples in laboratories across the country. Last month, Influenza B victoria and RSV were the most common causes of respiratory diseases, according to the data.
The meeting was attended by officials of the Ministry of Health, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, National Center for Disease Control, Disaster Management Cell, Emergency Medical Relief Division, Indian Council of Medical Research, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and WHO.
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