The ministry said that information shared by WHO recently indicated an increase in respiratory illness in northern parts of China.
The Union health ministry stated on November 26 that it has requested state governments to assess hospital preparedness amid an unexplained pneumonia outbreak in China, while emphasising that there is "no need for alarm."
“All states and Union territories are advised to implement ‘Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of COVID-19’," it said in a media release.
According to the guidelines, respiratory pathogens that manifest as severe acute respiratory illnesses and influenza-like illnesses (ILI) must be monitored. “Trends of ILI/SARI are to be closely monitored by district and state surveillance units."
The health ministry further stated that it is carefully monitoring the situation and has taken note of the reports indicating a spike in respiratory illnesses among children in northern China.
“This is noted to be important in view of the ongoing influenza and winter season that results in an increase in respiratory illness cases. Government of India is closely monitoring the situation and indicated that there is no need for any alarm," it stated.
"All States and Union Territories have been advised to implement 'Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of COVID-19', shared earlier this year, which provides for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens presenting as cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI)," Ministry said.
"They have also been asked to ensure that the trends of ILI/SARI should be closely monitored by the district and state surveillance units of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP), particularly of children and adolescents," it added.
Ministry said that information shared by WHO has indicated an increase in respiratory illness in northern parts of China."This is predominantly attributed to usual causes like Influenza, Mycoplasma pneumonia, SARS-CoV-2 etc. As per WHO, the release of COVID-19 restrictions coinciding with the onset of the winter season in addition to the cyclical trend of respiratory illnesses such as Mycoplasma pneumonia have led to this surge. While WHO has sought additional information from Chinese authorities, it is assessed that there is no cause for any alarm at the moment," the Health Ministry said.
On November 13, the National Health Commission (NHC) in China announced that the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions and the spread of known pathogens like influenza and a common bacterial infection that usually affects younger children were to blame for an increase in cases of respiratory illnesses.
On Tuesday, the global disease surveillance network ProMed released a warning regarding youngsters who may have undetected pneumonia.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked China for detailed information regarding the rise in respiratory ailments and documented paediatric pneumonia outbreaks.
(with inputs from ANI)
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