Hospital admissions for respiratory infections up 20pc amid Beijing smog

Hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose 20 per cent in the latest smog to hit Beijing, reports said yesterday as state media demanded greater government openness on pollution.

This week's pollution across vast swathes of the northern mainland region - the fourth serious case of toxic air in recent weeks - has sparked online anger and prompted unusually outspoken calls for action, even from official media.

The number of patients admitted to several hospitals in the capital for breathing problems rose by a fifth in recent days, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

Half of those admitted to a city children's hospital were suffering from respiratory infections, the newspaper said, citing doctors.

State broadcaster CCTV quoted Zhong Nanshan , the president of the China Medical Association who revealed the cover-up of the Sars epidemic of 2003, as saying: "Air pollution is much more scary than Sars, and affects the heart and veins."

Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) infected 1,755 people in Hong Kong and 299 died. Worldwide, there were 8,098 cases across 29 countries with 774 deaths.

The China Daily urged the government to reveal details of the causes of the pollution, saying departments had yet to provide credible data.