Kathmandu, Dec 22: The government has directed hospitals to be prepared for the prevention saying there is a possibility that the severe pneumonia in children in China may spread in Nepal.
Dr. Prakash Budhathoki, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, informed that the health institutions are on high alert for the prevention and treatment of pneumonia.
Children in China has contracted a severe form of pneumonia due to respiratory syncytial virus, he said.
Nepal has already alerted all government bodies for the treatment and prevention of the disease fearing its spread like COVID-19, he informed.
Concerned bodies have been instructed to collect samples of patients who have shown symptoms of pneumonia for a long time, the one that are different from those seen before in Nepal, he said.
The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division has discussed with the Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, the National Public Health Laboratory, the Kanti Children’s Hospital for the prevention and treatment of pneumonia, he informed.
Discussions were held with the concerned agencies to reduce possible risks, said the Division senior medical superintendent Dr Hemanta Ojha.
Mentioning that pneumonia detected in China is not a new type of infection, and it is a respiratory disease, he said all agencies in Nepal have been asked to be on alert against the disease.