Influenza clusters on campus triple
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Time: 2024-03-05 16:11
- News Quote: Interview
- Writing Editor: Liu Pinxi
Luo Yijun (middle) said that publically funded influenza vaccines will be available to all people starting from March 5. (Photo by Liu Pinxi)
The domestic influenza epidemic is still at a plateau. Luo Yijun, spokesman for the Department of Disease Control and Prevention, said today (5th) that there have been 45 influenza clusters on campus in the two weeks since the start of school, three times the number in the same period last year. From now on, public-funded influenza vaccination will be expanded to all people. There are 66,000 doses left, until all is finished.
Li Jialin, deputy director of the Epidemic Center of the CDC, pointed out that the number of outpatient and emergency visits for influenza last week was 102,000. The epidemic has declined but is still at a plateau, and is the highest for the same period in six years. Multiple respiratory viruses are circulating in the community at the same time, among which influenza viruses are the most common. Type A H3N2 is the main type; the number of cluster notifications of upper respiratory tract infections has increased in the past two weeks, and most of them are campus clusters. The majority of the detected cases are influenza viruses. There have been 45 campus influenza clusters since the start of school, three times the same period last year. In addition, there were 34 new severe cases of influenza and 11 deaths last week.
Luo Yijun pointed out that since March 5, the public-funded influenza vaccine has been expanded to provide vaccination to people over 6 months old across the country until the vaccine is used up. As of March 4, more than 6.51 million doses of domestically-funded influenza vaccine have been administered, and there are currently about 66,000 doses left. agent. He also pointed out that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended that elderly people over 65 years old should be vaccinated with XBB vaccine for more than 4 months, and they can receive a second dose of XBB vaccine. ACIP (Ministry of Health and Welfare) will be held in China on March 14 Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Advisory Committee Vaccination Group) meeting, where experts discuss the latest domestic vaccination recommendations.
In addition, the CDC pointed out that influenza viruses mutate rapidly and virus strains must be updated every year. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently announced the recommended composition of quadrivalent influenza vaccine strains for the northern hemisphere for the 2024-2025 influenza season, including type A H3N2 vaccine. The strain will be updated to the Thai strain, and the remaining three vaccine strains will be the same as the 2023-2024 influenza season. The CDC has begun the procurement of quadrivalent influenza vaccines this autumn and winter in accordance with the vaccine composition recommended by WHO.
Regarding the procurement progress, Luo Yijun further pointed out that the CDC had consulted 5 domestic manufacturers with drug licenses in February, and all 5 manufacturers were willing. The CDC will start the procurement administrative procedures. Last year’s central procurement volume (excluding local governments) The government and the Ministry of National Defense purchased 6.387 million doses. Taking into account the aging population and low birthrate, it is expected to purchase 50,000 more doses this year, for a total of 6.437 million doses. There are also open contracts, and additional purchases can be made if there is demand.
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