Lady Hardinge Hospital Director advices not to be alarmed by H9N2 virus in China

Amidst a rise of respiratory illness including pneumonia cases in children in China and a directive by the Union government to review preparedness in the country the director of Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Hospital has said that there is no outbreak of H9N2 virus reported in India. The Union Health Ministry recently said that it is closely monitoring the reported outbreak of H9N2 cases and clusters of respiratory illness in children.

Dr Subhash Giri, Director of Lady Hardinge Hospital said, “At present, in China, the children who are born during COVID and the children who are not exposed to the other viruses except COVID, have lower immunity to other routine viruses that cause the Upper Respiratory Infection (URI).

It includes the immunity for influenza as well, and when the serotype is changed to H9N2, the immunity is still very low in these cases.” H9N2 is a serotype influenza virus. The influenza virus is a common virus that comes at the end of the season, especially when there is the onset of winter. “The difference over here is that routinely during the winter we have various viruses that cause upper respiratory tract infections. In China, one virus has become quite prevalent; that stereotype is H9N2.