Expert drums up flu shot lest 'endless troubles'

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-29 19:48

BEIJING: China's top epidemiologist Zeng Guang on Thursday urged more people to be inoculated against A(H1N1) flu while reassuring the public about the vaccine safety.

"If people do not have themselves vaccinated now, there will be endless troubles in the future," Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in an interview with Xinhua.

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"With the number of patients with severe symptoms growing, China's medical treatment capacity, such as equipment and personnel, is to face huge challenges. We need to prepare in advance."

He said a peak of the A(H1N1) flu outbreaks in China was expected between this winter and spring.

An estimated 400,000 people in China had been inoculated with A(H1N1) flu vaccine and no serious adverse reaction had been reported.

"No vaccine is totally risk-free," he said. "But the benefits of such a vaccine is much greater than its risks."

A recent survey by popular web portal sohu.com showed that more than 54 percent of the 2,000 respondents said they did not plan to be vaccinated out of the safety concerns over the shot.

Zeng said many technologies China used in producing the A(H1N1) flu vaccines were those being used in producing regular flu vaccines. "They are mature technologies."