Flu epidemic no cause for SARS panic, expert says

Families advised to wash hands, avoid crowds to keep virus at bay

Flu outbreaks are up across China compared with previous years, but the epidemic remains at normal levels and is much less severe than the SARS outbreak, an official from Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

"It is irrelevant to compare flu outbreaks with SARS, as the two diseases are different in many respects," said He Xiong, deputy director of the Beijing CDC, who participated in the central government's efforts to fight SARS in 2003.