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Risk of A(H1N1) flu spreading rising

By Shan Juan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-06-12 22:59

The risk of continuous spreading of the A(H1N1) influenza pandemic in China at the community level is rising as more local cases have been detected, the Ministry of Health (MOH) warned Friday.

The warning came only one day after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the flu alert to its highest level.

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China has entered the third phase of the pandemic, which is symbolized by rising domestic cases. Some can be tracked to the infectious source, and some cannot, said MOH spokesman Mao Qun'an at a press conference

As of Friday afternoon, China has reported 136 confirmed cases, of which roughly 10 percent is through domestic transmission.

"Most are clearly linked to travels from affected areas," said Mao.But he declined to identify the specific local cases with unknown sources.

"A great majority of the confirmed cases are detected in areas with frequent and intensive foreign communications like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces," Mao said.

To date, China has not reported any community outbreaks but is edging closer due to more domestic transmissions, he noted.

Containing further secondary infections across the nation, particularly in schools, is at the top of the MOH agenda, Mao noted.

The MOH has already created an emergency response plan in case of potential community-based outbreaks. The plan includes the closure of schools where clusters of infections are detected.

Mao also emphasized the importance of constantly and strictly following the border checks and quarantine measures to block the virus.

"We treat everyone – Chinese and foreigners -- as equals in that regard and thank everyone for understanding," he said.

WHO China representative Hans Troedsson said at the press conference: "We are asking countries to adapt existing national pandemic plans to the current and specific situation," now under the highest alert.

"Caring for the patients instead of containing the disease should be the new focus internationally," he said.

Troedsson praised China's aggressive steps to contain the flu, saying its efforts marked a massive improvement over its slow response to the SARS outbreak in 2003.

The Chinese government is intensively training medical workers nationwide about early detection, reporting and intervention, in a bid to avoid any deaths in the country. The flu has killed more than 100 in the rest of the world, Mao said.

To date, 60 out of China's more than 100 flu patients have recovered and left the hospitals, according to the MOH daily update.

"We are also expanding the number of sentinel epidemiology labs and hospitals nationwide, which will cover all the cities and major counties in China," Mao said.

Meanwhile, government agencies, including the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the Ministry of Finance and the MOH, are gearing up for vaccine development and production, Mao said.

Medical experts organized by the MOH are working closely on an inoculation plan, he said, without disclosing a timetable for that.

Minister of Health Chen Zhu has said that medical workers handling the A(H1N1) flu patients would be the first in China to be vaccinated, around early October.

China's 11 qualified vaccine producers have already started development and production of the vaccine, which will enter the country's strategic stockpile instead of the market before Sept. 30, SFDA officials said last week,

Mao said the Chinese government will increase the stockpiles of antiviral medications and relative supplies.

But he declined to reveal the specific categories and number of the stockpiles.

"The epidemic situation keeps changing and we are adjusting the stockpiling accordingly. It’s hard to tell the exact number," Yang Jinrui, one of the press officers with MOH, told China Daily.

Vivian Tan, press officer with the WHO Beijing Office, told China Daily Thursday evening that the MOH told her office on Thursday that China does not need an antiviral medicine supply from the WHO as it has already had enough.

She also recommended countries including China to closely monitor and detect any possible resistance to antiviral drugs and identify unusual cases or outbreaks that may suggest a potential mutation of the virus.