China’s Crowded Hospitals, Kids On IV Drips: Not HMPV, Here’s The Real Story Behind The Visuals

Last Updated:January 06, 2025, 08:00 IST

Several studies show that the Chinese population tend to visit large hospitals and ask for IV drips even for minor illnesses, unlike India, where people typically consult local general practitioners first

Videos circulating online showed China’s hospitals overwhelmed with the influx of patients. (News18 Hindi)

The alarming visuals emerging from China reportedly linked to the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) have sparked global fears, with many interpreting it as a potential resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some videos floating on social media show children looking frail, lying in hospital beds with intravenous (IV) drips, surrounded by nervous parents. Some pictures show crowded hospital wards, long queues of patients, and medical staff in protective gear, adding to the public alarm.

These distressing images are reminiscent of the visuals from the Covid-19 pandemic. But the real story behind these alarming visuals could be different. The truth lies in the difference in the healthcare culture of the Chinese.

Several published studies show that the Chinese tend to visit large hospitals and ask for IV drips even for minor illnesses, unlike India, where people typically consult local general practitioners first. This means that during the ongoing harsh winter, when numerous infections are already circulating and infecting people, large hospitals become crowded and appear overwhelming.

Let’s understand why the Chinese flock to large hospitals even for minor illnesses.

WHY DO VISUALS SHOW HOSPITALS OVERCROWDED?

According to a Chinese study published in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management, the overall performance of public health centres (PHCs) in China remains unsatisfactory.

PHCs are the first point of contact for medical services in any country. Despite the Chinese government’s continued investment in PHC facilities over the past 10 years, patients are still concentrated in tertiary or big hospitals.

Published evidence shows that China’s healthcare system is “severely fragmented” with poor coordination between primary, secondary and tertiary care. Without family doctors acting as “gatekeepers”, primary care fails to compete with big hospitals, leading to patients directly reaching out to tertiary hospitals, leaving the big hospitals crowded.

WHY ARE LOCAL DOCTORS UNABLE TO FLOURISH IN CHINA?

The daily rate of doctors treating patients in PHC institutions is only a quarter of that in tertiary hospitals. “A common problem faced by family doctors is a lack of patient volume as a basic guarantee of the capacity of healthcare providers,” said the Chinese study. “Without sufficient patient volume, it is also difficult to improve the capacity of family doctors.”

Reports show that local PHC facilities correctly diagnosed 44.11% of standardised patients with unstable angina and asthma in a developed city in China, with a correct rate of treatment of only 24.19%.

Another study conducted using data from Shanghai patients finds that patients’ trust in family doctors is low, with only 25.3% of patients stating that they had a high level of trust in their family doctor.

Hence, big hospitals are quickly overwhelmed in China.

WHY DO VISUALS SHOW CHILDREN UNDERGOING TREATMENT?

Many unverified pictures and videos coming from Chinese hospitals show adults and children admitted to hospitals undergoing treatment, mostly taking IV drips.

Taking IV drips is also a common practice in Chinese culture, many studies have shown. An article published in the medical journal BMJ written by a Chinese nurse working in the department of liver surgery showed that the country consumed 10.4 billion bottles of infusion fluid in 2009 — roughly eight bottles on average for each inhabitant. Other countries, in contrast, rarely show consumption as high as 2.5 to 3 bottles per person.

It showed that overuse of intravenous infusion is a “controversial topic” in mainland China. “Intravenous infusion of drugs or fluid is normally reserved for patients whose condition cannot be effectively treated by injection or drugs taken orally.”

In a conversation, Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman at the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) COVID Task Force, shared an insight into the psychology of some Indian patients which many doctors can relate to. He spoke about patients who insist on prescribing medicines and drips even when they are not required medically.

“There are many patients who themselves ask doctors to prescribe medicines and request injections or multivitamins. These patients often doubt the doctor’s credibility if they are not given a prescription or are sent home empty-handed,” he explained. “In China, almost all patients are like this. They seek IV drips for their children and feel unserviced if the doctor denies.”

Therefore, depending on unverified visuals of crowded hospitals and young children receiving IV drips is insufficient to cause panic or unnecessary alarm.