Hyderabad: Doctors advise flu shots for senior citizens, people with co-morbidities

Local health officials there have clarified that the rise in respiratory infections has not put any pressure on hospital admissions.

Hyderabad: The surge in respiratory infections among children in China, which has attracted everybody’s attention due to the past experience with the Covid pandemic, is being attributed to local circulation of known pathogens like flu, Mycoplasma pneumonia and RSV, the common respiratory virus that causes the mild cold-like symptoms.

While the rise in respiratory infections in China has put public health institutions in Hyderabad and elsewhere on the alert, the World Health Organization (WHO) along with the local authorities in China have said that no new (novel) pathogens have been detected, following the recent rise in infections.

For the past few weeks, multiple known viruses including influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Mycoplasma pneumonia which is the common bacterial infection and can be treated through antibiotics, are circulating in China. Quite significantly, the WHO and the local health officials there have clarified that the rise in respiratory infections has not put any pressure on hospital admissions.

Based on the reactions from public healthcare specialists from India, who have continued to track new variants of Covid-19 virus in India despite drop in positive infections, the rise in respiratory infections in China is because recently the Chinese authorities had lifted several Covid-related restrictions that were still in place.

The fact that only children are being infected by such illness and not other members of the community is also an indication that only a known pathogen is circulating. Had there been a novel variant of a virus, the infections or reporting of new cases would be spread equally among all members of the community, experts pointed out.

Senior health officials in Hyderabad, however, have urged people, especially those with co-morbid conditions, especially senior citizens to take precautions and if needed, also get their annual flu shots, if the doctor advises.