Kerala health ministry on alert amid pneumonia outbreak in China

The Kerala Health Ministry is on alert amid China reporting a surge in pneumonia cases among children.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George told ANI, “The World Health Organisation (WHO) discussed this with China yesterday. The WHO has discussed with China the pneumonia that is seen in children.”

“What we know is that China has clarified that there is nothing to worry about. When the news came out, our expert committee met to analyse the situation. Yesterday, I chaired a meeting with doctors from BME and DHS,” she added.

She said that her team is on alert and is closely monitoring the situation.

Chinese health authorities have not detected any unusual or novel pathogens and provided the requested data on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

Talking about the surge in pneumonia cases, Dr George said, “What experts said is that the approaches chosen by us, China and other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic are slightly different. They had a lockdown for a longer period. China gave relaxation only a year after the lockdown.”

She added, “It was already found globally that the natural immunity depth in children was reduced due to the pandemic. China has started experiencing it now. This is what our health experts have analysed.”

It is important to note that Kerala is more susceptible to diseases due to more international movements in the southern state.

Apart from this, the population of Kerala is spread across the globe. Cases of diseases like monkeypox and COVID-19 were first reported in this state in India.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the ongoing situation of the pneumonia outbreak in China is being keenly observed by the health institutions in India and all appropriate actions are being taken.

Speaking to the media, Mansukh Mandaviya said, “The government is continuously paying attention to the situation of pneumonia spreading within China. ICMR and the Director General of Health Services are keeping an eye on it and taking necessary action.”

With inputs from agencies