A/H1N1 now predominant flu strain in China

0 CommentsPrint E-mail Xinhua, February 10, 2011
Adjust font size:

A/H1N1 has become the predominant strain of flu virus in China, but is unlikely to have as great impact as it did in 2009, reported the Health News on Thursday, a newspaper run by the Ministry of Health.

A/H1N1 has become the predominant strain of flu virus in China, but is unlikely to have as great impact as it did in 2009, reported the Health News on Thursday.
A/H1N1 has become the predominant strain of flu virus in China, but is unlikely to have as great impact as it did in 2009, reported the Health News on Thursday.

After nearly half-a-year with no severe cases of A/H1N1 flu reported, the virus has started to take its toll again in the last two months.

China has reported 129 severe cases of A/H1N1 since the end of 2010, after 18 straight weeks without any reports of severe cases since August 2010. Twenty deaths caused by A/H1N1 were reported as of Tuesday since the beginning of 2011.

A weekly report by the Chinese National Influenza Center showed that A/H1N1 had become the predominant flu strain since the end of 2010. Previously,influenza A (H3N2) virus predominated.

Shu Yuelong, director of the center, was quoted in Health News, as saying that as China entered the peak influenza season, more acute cases of A/H1N1 would occur, but the pandemic would not be as severe as that in 2009.

Shu said, current monitoring results showed that both the percentage of flu-like cases in outpatient and emergency visits and confirmed cases of influenza were lower than the level in the same period last year.

He said that vaccination against A/H1N1 had been effective.

The A/H1N1 flu outbreak peaked in terms of severity in 2009. The Chinese mainland reported its first case in May of that year. More than 120,000 A/H1N1 flu cases were recorded in 2009, with 648 of them leading to death.

Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comments

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter