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More moves urged to fight H1N1 virus
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-08 09:28 Chinese scientists have called for strengthened measures to contain A/H1N1 in the country's remote areas following its first reported death from the virus and warnings that the flu could cause a second wave of infections in the world's poorest communities.
Epidemiologists sent by the Ministry of Health are still investigating the death of an 18-year-old woman in a hospital in Maizhokunggar county of the Tibet autonomous region on Sunday, said Zeng Guang, a senior epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Flu control efforts, particularly standardized treatment for patients and medical staff training, should be enhanced in remote areas like Tibet," Zeng told China Daily on Wednesday. The western plateau was the last region on the Chinese mainland to report its first A/H1N1 case on Sept 6, the Xinhua News Agency reported. There have been 13 severe cases of the virus detected so far on the mainland. Beijing reported its first severe A/H1N1 case on Tuesday. A male patient, 72, is receiving treatment with respirators in hospital. He had been suffering from chronic lung disease for 20 years, local health authorities said. The mainland's first reported death from A/H1N1 in Tibet comes amid global fears that the flu could spread in the colder months ahead. China, the United States and Australia have begun vaccinations against the virus, but many other countries have not and health professionals said it is unlikely many people will be protected from the virus before next month. The United Nation's senior technical expert on influenza, Dr Julie Hall, told a World Bank meeting over the weekend that the first wave of the H1N1 flu pandemic affected wealthier nations like the US, Australia and Japan, where it is still active.
Vivian Tan, press officer of the World Health Organization (WHO) Beijing Office, said Chinese authorities should strengthen epidemic surveillance systems as well as healthcare services and supplies in less developed areas. To that effect, the Chinese health ministry already sent 200,000 doses of flu vaccine to Lhasa, Tibet's capital, by air on Tuesday. Feng Zijian, head of the CDC's emergency response department, said preliminary results from the investigation of Tibet's A/H1N1 death showed the woman had received proper and timely treatment. "It was just a disappointing coincidence that the first H1N1 death on the mainland happened in the last region nationwide recording the emergence of the virus," he said. Zeng Guang said that, similar to the victim experiencing a fever of 40 C, health authorities found "A/H1N1 patients in Tibet usually suffered from high fevers without knowing why". Given that the Chinese mainland had reported 21,453 cases by Tuesday, the A/H1N1 death rate is still low in China, Feng said.
The health ministry also launched a nationwide training program on Tuesday for healthcare workers on A/H1N1 prevention and control. "The advent of an H1N1 death doesn't necessarily indicate a worsening H1N1 epidemic in the country," Feng said. The WHO's Vivian Tan said the majority of H1N1 patients in China would continue to show mild symptoms and recover without treatment or hospitalization in the coming weeks. However, with a multitude of cases, "more people in China would be affected more severely, even fatally," she said. The WHO estimates worldwide production capacity for pandemic vaccines at about 3 billion doses a year, which would be enough to cover fewer than half the world's 6.8 billion people. The WHO is pressing rich countries to buy and donate vaccines to poorer countries. Reuters contributed to the story |
