Flu epidemic to peak next month
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The ongoing seasonal flu epidemic will likely peak next month but no evidence suggests there will be a pandemic as serious as 2009's. |
This year's epidemic is similar to previous years' in terms of strain varieties, viral activity and prevalence, Beijing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deputy director He Xiong said.
Type B and the H3N2 are causing most of this year's cases, government figures showed.
However, a 3-year-old boy in East China's Jiangsu province came down with the rare European avian flu-like H1N1 swine influenza A, local media reported on Tuesday.
He said it is unlikely the H1N1 variety will become this year's dominant strain, because many people were already infected in 2009 and about 100 million people were vaccinated in a nationwide program since early 2010.
People have become increasingly fearful of the flu, and particularly of the H1N1 strain, as deaths have recently been reported in several countries, including Italy, Denmark and Jordan. A serious H1N1 case was reported in Beijing last week.
"There is no need to worry about H1N1. Both the H1N1 vaccinations early last year and the recent seasonal flu shots can protect people from the strain," He said.
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