China: The number of flu cases increased, influenza A (H1N1) accounted for the highest rate

Data released by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that influenza has overtaken the new COVID-19 and became the most dominant virus in the Chinese capital Beijing when the rate Influenza positives across the country continued to increase in recent weeks.

According to the Global Times, this information raises alarm bells about the possibility of a combination of COVID-19, influenza and norovirus - a highly contagious stomach and intestinal virus.

Data released by the Beijing CDC shows that flu overtook COVID-19 to become the most common virus in Beijing between February 13 and 19. Due to the flu outbreak, some elementary and junior high schools in cities such as: Tianjin, Northern China, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province and Danyang, Jiangsu Province, Eastern China, forced students must be absent from school. On February 20, Anhui Provincial CDC also announced on its official WeChat account that the level of influenza virus activity in this province has recently increased significantly, with influenza A (H1N1) predominating.

Flu has returned to the country of more than 1.4 billion people even as China's latest and biggest COVID-19 outbreak subsides. The rate of flu-positive cases increased by more than 10%, to 14.3%, in the week ending February 19. This rate surpassed COVID-19 for the first time since early December 2022, according to data released by the Chinese CDC. The Chinese CDC's weekly flu report on February 23 showed that the flu-positive rate in this country continued to increase compared to the previous week. The data showed that influenza type A (H1N1) accounted for 71% of all influenza samples, accounting for the highest proportion.

Chinese respiratory and infectious disease experts have spoken to reassure the people. According to Wang Guangfa, a respiratory specialist at Peking University No. 1 Hospital, in the past three years, the low rate of flu infection in China is due to COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Compared to previous years of the same period, the number of flu infections this year is at a low level.

Zhou Yishan, a pediatrician at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing, said that although the number of flu cases increased among pediatric patients, it was small and sporadic. Factors including the eased COVID-19 prevention and control measures and the rapid movement of people between the South and the North, as well as the reopening of schools, are factors, Zhou noted. the main reasons behind the contagion.

In addition to the flu epidemic, many epidemic prevention and control agencies warn that the epidemic of acute infectious diarrhea caused by norovirus has also entered the peak stage. The period from October to March is the common season for norovirus. Wang told Chinese media recently that, because there is no vaccine, people need to keep clean to avoid getting infected with norovirus.

Wang also reminded medical facilities not to misjudge an illness whether it is the flu or COVID-19 or simply a cold, as the onset of symptoms is similar, such as fever and sore throat. .

The flu overtaking COVID-19 also confirms the fact that China as a whole has built up an immunity to COVID-19 and the country has come out of the shadow of the pandemic. Therefore, in the current season, the possibility of flu and COVID-19 epidemics occurring at the same time is quite low. But in winter, the chance of a double virus is higher, because most people's antibodies to COVID-19 weaken after 6 months and winter is the peak season for flu. Elsewhere, Bloomberg reported that a spike in flu cases is fueling a shortage of antiviral drugs in pharmacies in China.

* SOURCE; LABOR ANNOUNCEMENT https://laodong.vn/the-gioi/trung-quoc-so-ca-mac-cum-tang-cum-a-h1n1-chiem-ti-le-cao-nhat-1152726.ldo