UCL delegation visits AIIMS
A delegation from University College London (UCL) visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here today in a bid to strengthen healthcare and research collaboration.
The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said the report claiming detection of seven bacterial cases in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi linked to the recent surge in pneumonia cases in China are “misleading and inaccurate”.
“A recent media report in a national daily has claimed that AIIMS Delhi has detected seven bacterial cases linked to the recent surge in Pneumonia cases in China. The news report is ill-informed and provides misleading information,” the ministry said.
It, however, clarified that the seven cases detected in AIIMS Delhi have no link whatsoever to the recent surge in respiratory infections in children reported from some parts of the world, including China.
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The ministry said the seven cases detected as a part of an ongoing study at AIIMS Delhi in the six month period (from April to September ) and is no cause for worry.
“Since January till date, no Mycoplasma pneumonia was detected in the 611 samples tested at the Department of Microbiology, AIIMS Delhi as a part ICMR’s multiple respiratory pathogen surveillance, which included mainly severe acute respiratory illness (SARI, which comprised about 95 per cent of these cases) by real-time PCR,” it said.
The ministry said Mycoplasma pneumonia is the commonest bacterial cause of community acquired pneumonia, and It is the reason for nearly 15-30 per cent of all such infections.
Such surge has not been reported from any part of India, it added.
The ministry also informed that is in touch with state health authorities and is keeping a close watch on the situation on an everyday basis.
It may be mentioned that the ministry last month took note of the reported surge in respiratory illness in children in China and had asked the States and Union Territories (UTs) to immediately review public health and hospital preparedness.
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