New Delhi, Jan 4 (Reporter) The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday said that there is no surge in respiratory diseases in the country and the healthcare system is fully prepared to deal with any eventuality. A meeting of the joint monitoring group was convened under the chairmanship of the Directorate General of Health Services, the ministry said here late evening. The meeting assessed the impact and preparedness in India in the wake of reports of rising cases of respiratory ailments in China in the last few weeks. The meeting was attended by experts from the World Health OrganiSation (WHO), Disaster Management (DM) Cell, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Emergency Medical Relief (EMR) Division and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. The meeting deliberated extensively on the current situation. The meeting noted that the situation is not unusual given the ongoing flu season in China. The reason for the current surge is influenza virus, RSV and HMPV. These are the common diseases that occur in this season. It was informed in the meeting that the central government is closely monitoring the situation through all available means and WHO has also been requested to share timely updates about the situation in China. These viruses are already circulating across the world, including India. A robust surveillance system for influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory illness for influenza is already in place in the country through both ICMR and IDSP networks. Data from both shows that there has been no unusual increase in such cases. Doctors at the hospitals also confirmed that there has been no rise in cases of respiratory ailments in the past few weeks except those due to seasonal changes...////...