Kathmandu, Feb. 7 -- Every day, around five children seriously ill with pneumonia are admitted to Patan Hospital. Several others, infected with influenza and in serious condition, seek outpatient care, pediatric doctors at the hospital said.

"Compared to the same season of previous years, the number of patients infected with both influenza and pneumonia has risen this time," said Dr Srijana Shrestha, professor of paediatrics at Patan Hospital. "Some patients are brought to hospital in serious conditions, who require immediate intensive care."

Though winter is flu season, when thousands of people across the country get infected with multiple respiratory viruses, multiple doctors the Post talked to said they noticed an alarming surge in i...