The number of patients visiting fever clinics at medical institutions in China has been decreasing since New Year’s Day. However, Chinese health authorities said on Sunday that there is a possibility of a resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak in China in January, China-based Global Times reported.
National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Fung said at a press conference that the number of patients admitted to fever outpatient clinics in medical institutions across China has been on a fluctuating downward trend. At present, the main respiratory disease is still influenza, and infections with the new coronavirus are at a relatively low level.
According to recent data from the multi-channel surveillance system, the positive rate of coronavirus tests in sentinel hospitals remained below 1 percent after the New Year’s Day holiday, and the proportion of the JN.1 variant showed an increase. Commenting on this trend, Wang Dayan, director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), National Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention, and National Influenza Center of China, said:
According to a report in the Global Times, experts believe that people in China will continue to experience a situation in which various respiratory pathogens circulate alternately or simultaneously through the winter and next spring, and in the short term, influenza remains. The virus is said to be predominant.
According to Wang, due to the continued importation of the JN.1 variant strain, the gradual decreasing trend of domestic influenza, and the weakening of herd immunity, the new coronavirus infection epidemic may return in January. It is said that there is a high possibility that the JN.1 mutant strain will spread the infection. It develops into a dominant subspecies in China.
Wang said the influenza epidemic began in early October in China’s southern provinces, followed by northern provinces in late October. Initially, the main circulating strains were influenza viruses of the H3N2 subtype. However, the proportion of influenza B viruses in the southern states has risen to 36.8 percent in the past three weeks.
Meanwhile, the percentage in Northern Province increased to 57.7% over the past five weeks. In some states, the proportion of influenza B viruses exceeds that of influenza A viruses, the Global Times reported.
“The immune response that occurs after being infected with influenza A does not provide effective immune protection against influenza B,” Wang said. “It’s still a possibility.” It added that high-risk people should get vaccinated against influenza as soon as possible each year.
Wang Guiqiang, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the First Hospital of Peking University, stressed at a press conference on Sunday that winter is the peak season for respiratory infections, and that the immunity established after infection with various pathogens does not last long. , so repeated infections may occur. However, the symptoms of his second infection with the same pathogen are often milder.
The condition can be exacerbated by various pathogenic infections and can lead to secondary bacterial infections, especially after damage to the upper respiratory mucosal barrier. Wang said that COVID-19 and influenza infections can worsen underlying health conditions in older people and people with underlying health conditions. Wang called for more attention to early intervention and diagnosis of respiratory diseases.
Mi Fong stressed the need to strengthen surveillance and early warning as the winter holidays and Chinese New Year approach, and large-scale movement and gatherings of people could accelerate the spread of respiratory diseases.
In addition, the Global Times reports that timely health consultation and referral guidance services will be provided to the elderly, pregnant women, children, and patients with chronic underlying diseases and other conditions that make them eligible for vaccination. Should.
According to Mi, it is important to proactively allocate medical resources, optimize treatment processes and ensure the supply of medical supplies.