Health Ministry said – no need to worry( Health Ministry )

New Delhi: The Indian government has become alert about the new virus spread in China. The Union Health Ministry  ( Health Ministry ) on Saturday convened a meeting of the Joint Monitoring Group on this issue. The Union Health Ministry is closely monitoring the situation in China and WHO has been requested to share timely updates about the situation. India is well prepared to deal with respiratory diseases.

Health Ministry said – no need to worry

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday urged people to remain calm regarding the HMPV (Human Metapneumo Virus) spread in China. The government said that the situation in China is “not unusual”. The ministry said that the report also shows that the current increase in patients is due to influenza virus, RSV and HMPV which are common pathogens expected during the season.

Indian government on alert over new virus

The Centre said India already has a robust surveillance system for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). It said data from both ICMR and IDSP networks showed no unusual increase in the number of ILI and SARI cases. Hospital authorities have also confirmed that there has been no increase in respiratory illness cases in the last few weeks except for normal seasonal variations.

The Health Ministry said ICMR also tests for other respiratory viruses such as adenovirus, RSV, hMPV etc. and these pathogens do not show any unusual increase in the samples tested. As a precautionary measure, the number of laboratories testing for hMPV will be increased by ICMR.

Avoid contact with people if you have cough

DGHS Director General Dr Atul Goel had said on Friday that hMPV is just like any other respiratory virus that causes common cold. He urged the public to take the usual precautions for all respiratory infections, meaning if someone has a cough and cold they should avoid coming in contact with too many people to prevent the infection from spreading.