sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Regarding the new situation of epidemic prevention and control, Zhong Nanshan made a series of important interpretations
December 10, 2022 at 20:30
Reposted from: Beijing Daily Client
It has been more than 10 days since Guangzhou took the lead in optimizing the epidemic prevention and control measures on November 30; during this period, on December 7, the Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the "New Measures for Further Optimizing and Implementing the Prevention and Control of the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic" Ten Articles". In the past few days, the whole society and the people still have a lot of confusion about the new characteristics of the new crown virus and the new situation of epidemic prevention and control at present and in the future.
On December 9, Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and his team members Li Yimin (Secretary of the Party Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Director of the Intensive Care Medical Center), Yang Zifeng (Vice President of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University-Guangzhou Respiratory Health Research Institute) Long) was interviewed by the media in Guangzhou and made a series of heavy interpretations.
How much has the pathogenicity been weakened?
Zhong Nanshan said that for the new crown virus, our country has adopted a strict infection prevention strategy before, and has made great achievements in the prevention and control of the epidemic.
"But today's Omicron is no longer scary!" Zhong Nanshan said, as the virus mutates from generation to generation, the lesions after infection are basically in the upper respiratory tract, and rarely reach the lungs; most of the infected people are asymptomatic and mild, even if infected , the vast majority of people will get better within 5-7 days. After getting better, it is like getting another shot of the vaccine, and it will not be easy to get it again.
Combined with the situation of hospital diagnosis and treatment, Li Yimin added that there are not many serious patients (proportion) in this wave (epidemic), and these severe patients are not the condition of the new crown itself, and the performance of the lungs is not outstanding. The manifestations of lung infection are different. Most of the manifestations are mainly the aggravation of the underlying disease, which requires further treatment in the hospital, and the patient recovers quickly after treatment.
This is related to the characteristics of the virus itself. According to Zhong Nanshan’s analysis, first, the transmission rate is very strong. The previous virus was 1:3, 1:4, and now it is 1:18. “No matter how strict the lockdown is, it is difficult to control the infection”; This is mainly reflected in the sharp drop in the rate of severe illness and death. Judging from the case statistics after the Omicron epidemic, the number of deaths among our infected people is less than 0.1%. "This mortality rate is almost the same as that of influenza."
How to understand the current prevention and control policy?
In this regard, Zhong Nanshan believes that the current "Twenty Articles" and "New Ten Articles" successively issued by our country are scientific optimization and adjustment of prevention and control measures based on the new situation of epidemic prevention and control.
After the adjustment, the focus of our prevention and control policy has shifted to focus on severe illness and death prevention, and on this basis, social life and economic activities will gradually return to normal; however, Zhong Nanshan reminded that this does not mean that we will stop preventing infection in the future, and we still need to prevent infection. "No matter where you are, if a large number of people are infected intensively in a short period of time, everyone will stay at home and no one will work", which will inevitably disrupt the normal order of production and life. "So, it is still necessary to prevent infection under the existing policy system."
Among them, the infection prevention of hospitals and medical staff is the focus. Because if a large number of medical staff are infected in a short period of time, no matter whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic, they will isolate themselves after infection, which will affect the diagnosis and treatment of many other diseases. Therefore, Zhong Nanshan said that medical staff should take better precautions and wear N95 masks when seeing a doctor. "The hospital must not be closed, not only for the new crown, but also for other diseases!"
Are vaccinations effective? is it safe?
Although the pathogenicity has been greatly reduced, due to the particularly strong infectivity, if intensive large-scale infection occurs, the risk of some elderly, infirm, and vulnerable groups with underlying diseases will also be increased. In this regard, Zhong Nanshan unequivocally called for strengthening vaccination coverage, especially for the elderly.
He said that the vaccine is not effective in preventing infection because the virus mutates too quickly, and there will be many escapes. However, the elderly have been vaccinated, and the protection against severe diseases is greatly enhanced.
Zhong Nanshan also clarified two misunderstandings circulating in the society. One is the issue of vaccine safety. He said that compared with imported vaccines, the safety of domestic vaccines is not lower, but higher. "my country's inactivated vaccine has completed three injections, and its protection against severe diseases is the same as that of the mRNA vaccine." Second, some people think that vaccination is taboo for the elderly with underlying chronic diseases. In fact, he said, elderly people with common chronic diseases are encouraged to take a shot. There are a lot of materials at home and abroad, which prove that it is safe. Facts have proved that the elderly who have been fully vaccinated have very little chance of developing severe disease after infection.
Are there serious sequelae after infection?
Zhong Nanshan explained that medically speaking, the sequelae are the symptoms that have always existed after the disease. For example, lifelong polio after polio infection, and skin lesions left after infection with smallpox virus. At present, a large number of so-called "new crown sequelae" at home and abroad are relatively subjective, such as general fatigue, boredom, depression, lack of concentration, and now there is a new term "brain fog", memory loss. Of course, there are also some problems, such as loss of sense of smell and taste, etc., but these can be improved and disappeared over time. "So this is not called sequelae."
Zhong Nanshan said that a considerable number of sequelae are caused by the excessive impact of mental and psychological pressure after infection, which is what we now call sequelae, such as family burden, social burden, neighbors, children and other aspects. "I believe that these changes will improve over time, and are related to the original severity of the disease. Therefore, it is wrong to say that the sequelae are so serious, so dangerous, and so absolute."
How do individuals protect themselves, should they go to the hospital if they are infected?
Epidemic prevention and control is not only a matter for the government and society, each of us is the first person responsible for epidemic prevention and control. Regarding personal protection, Zhong Nanshan also reminded that for the general public, it is still necessary to strictly implement wearing masks, reduce gatherings, and do a good job in timely treatment of some basic diseases. "Now after the optimization and adjustment, we see that many people consciously reduce social gatherings, and the number of people wearing masks is not less than before, but more. This is a good phenomenon, which shows that our awareness of self-protection is very active. improve."
As for after infection, Zhong Nanshan suggested that most people can be isolated at home, pay attention to wearing N95 masks to minimize infection of family members, use antigen test every other day, and the test paper will be negative in a few days. If you have symptoms, such as a fever, generally the fever caused by Omicron rarely exceeds three days. If you still have a fever after three days, you should go to the doctor. "If it is a relatively serious underlying disease, it is easy to cause the aggravation of the underlying disease after infection. In such a situation, you should contact the hospital and the corresponding medical staff very closely. If something happens, you need to be sent to the hospital immediately."
Li Yimin said that in view of the fact that severe cases are mainly concentrated in the elderly with underlying diseases or vulnerable groups who have not been fully vaccinated, a large number of general people should not take medicine blindly, otherwise the risk will be higher. In particular, he pointed out that people with underlying diseases especially hope that they can seek medical treatment in time and receive targeted treatment. Don't dare to go to the hospital because of fear of getting sick from the new crown. "Receiving treatment normally is the best for life and health. protection of."
When will it return to normal?
In this regard, Yang Zifeng replied that in the past three years, there have been new methods for scientific early warning and prediction of epidemics. The application of transmission dynamics models combined with artificial intelligence algorithms, coupled with the laws of virus mutation and development that we have continuously grasped, can predict the trend and scale of epidemics.
Specific to this round of epidemic in Guangzhou, after optimizing and adjusting the epidemic prevention and control measures, Yang Zifeng believes that according to the comprehensive research and judgment of the model, first, the number of daily infections will reach a peak at the end of January and early February next year, "but there is no need to worry, because We have a lot of peak pressure measures”; second, around the middle and late March of next year, we will be able to enter a relatively stable stage.
Regarding the optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures, especially after the implementation of the "New Ten Measures", whether it will return to the serious situation in 2020, Zhong Nanshan made it clear that my answer is: "No!" The purpose of our country is "life first "At present, any adjustment and optimization is for this purpose. Even the latest "Ten Articles" have not given up the prevention of infection in essence.
Some people worry whether the virus will mutate in the direction of "high pathogenicity"; or will the symptoms of the disease worsen after repeated infection? Zhong Nanshan revealed that according to the current development trend of Omicron, the two new mutant strains that have emerged abroad, one has a higher transmission coefficient but is weaker in pathogenicity; The consensus is that "the probability of pathogenicity is weakened".
As for Fuyang, Zhong Nanshan thinks it is of little significance. At the same time, according to some foreign research data, most people will not be reinfected for a long time after infection.
zhttps://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2022-12-10/doc-imxweyqq8712259.shtml?cre=tianyi&mod=pcpager_china &loc=10&r=0&rfunc=45&tj=cxvertical_pc_pager_spt&tr =174
December 10, 2022 at 20:30
Reposted from: Beijing Daily Client
It has been more than 10 days since Guangzhou took the lead in optimizing the epidemic prevention and control measures on November 30; during this period, on December 7, the Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the "New Measures for Further Optimizing and Implementing the Prevention and Control of the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic" Ten Articles". In the past few days, the whole society and the people still have a lot of confusion about the new characteristics of the new crown virus and the new situation of epidemic prevention and control at present and in the future.
On December 9, Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and his team members Li Yimin (Secretary of the Party Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Director of the Intensive Care Medical Center), Yang Zifeng (Vice President of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University-Guangzhou Respiratory Health Research Institute) Long) was interviewed by the media in Guangzhou and made a series of heavy interpretations.
How much has the pathogenicity been weakened?
Zhong Nanshan said that for the new crown virus, our country has adopted a strict infection prevention strategy before, and has made great achievements in the prevention and control of the epidemic.
"But today's Omicron is no longer scary!" Zhong Nanshan said, as the virus mutates from generation to generation, the lesions after infection are basically in the upper respiratory tract, and rarely reach the lungs; most of the infected people are asymptomatic and mild, even if infected , the vast majority of people will get better within 5-7 days. After getting better, it is like getting another shot of the vaccine, and it will not be easy to get it again.
Combined with the situation of hospital diagnosis and treatment, Li Yimin added that there are not many serious patients (proportion) in this wave (epidemic), and these severe patients are not the condition of the new crown itself, and the performance of the lungs is not outstanding. The manifestations of lung infection are different. Most of the manifestations are mainly the aggravation of the underlying disease, which requires further treatment in the hospital, and the patient recovers quickly after treatment.
This is related to the characteristics of the virus itself. According to Zhong Nanshan’s analysis, first, the transmission rate is very strong. The previous virus was 1:3, 1:4, and now it is 1:18. “No matter how strict the lockdown is, it is difficult to control the infection”; This is mainly reflected in the sharp drop in the rate of severe illness and death. Judging from the case statistics after the Omicron epidemic, the number of deaths among our infected people is less than 0.1%. "This mortality rate is almost the same as that of influenza."
How to understand the current prevention and control policy?
In this regard, Zhong Nanshan believes that the current "Twenty Articles" and "New Ten Articles" successively issued by our country are scientific optimization and adjustment of prevention and control measures based on the new situation of epidemic prevention and control.
After the adjustment, the focus of our prevention and control policy has shifted to focus on severe illness and death prevention, and on this basis, social life and economic activities will gradually return to normal; however, Zhong Nanshan reminded that this does not mean that we will stop preventing infection in the future, and we still need to prevent infection. "No matter where you are, if a large number of people are infected intensively in a short period of time, everyone will stay at home and no one will work", which will inevitably disrupt the normal order of production and life. "So, it is still necessary to prevent infection under the existing policy system."
Among them, the infection prevention of hospitals and medical staff is the focus. Because if a large number of medical staff are infected in a short period of time, no matter whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic, they will isolate themselves after infection, which will affect the diagnosis and treatment of many other diseases. Therefore, Zhong Nanshan said that medical staff should take better precautions and wear N95 masks when seeing a doctor. "The hospital must not be closed, not only for the new crown, but also for other diseases!"
Are vaccinations effective? is it safe?
Although the pathogenicity has been greatly reduced, due to the particularly strong infectivity, if intensive large-scale infection occurs, the risk of some elderly, infirm, and vulnerable groups with underlying diseases will also be increased. In this regard, Zhong Nanshan unequivocally called for strengthening vaccination coverage, especially for the elderly.
He said that the vaccine is not effective in preventing infection because the virus mutates too quickly, and there will be many escapes. However, the elderly have been vaccinated, and the protection against severe diseases is greatly enhanced.
Zhong Nanshan also clarified two misunderstandings circulating in the society. One is the issue of vaccine safety. He said that compared with imported vaccines, the safety of domestic vaccines is not lower, but higher. "my country's inactivated vaccine has completed three injections, and its protection against severe diseases is the same as that of the mRNA vaccine." Second, some people think that vaccination is taboo for the elderly with underlying chronic diseases. In fact, he said, elderly people with common chronic diseases are encouraged to take a shot. There are a lot of materials at home and abroad, which prove that it is safe. Facts have proved that the elderly who have been fully vaccinated have very little chance of developing severe disease after infection.
Are there serious sequelae after infection?
Zhong Nanshan explained that medically speaking, the sequelae are the symptoms that have always existed after the disease. For example, lifelong polio after polio infection, and skin lesions left after infection with smallpox virus. At present, a large number of so-called "new crown sequelae" at home and abroad are relatively subjective, such as general fatigue, boredom, depression, lack of concentration, and now there is a new term "brain fog", memory loss. Of course, there are also some problems, such as loss of sense of smell and taste, etc., but these can be improved and disappeared over time. "So this is not called sequelae."
Zhong Nanshan said that a considerable number of sequelae are caused by the excessive impact of mental and psychological pressure after infection, which is what we now call sequelae, such as family burden, social burden, neighbors, children and other aspects. "I believe that these changes will improve over time, and are related to the original severity of the disease. Therefore, it is wrong to say that the sequelae are so serious, so dangerous, and so absolute."
How do individuals protect themselves, should they go to the hospital if they are infected?
Epidemic prevention and control is not only a matter for the government and society, each of us is the first person responsible for epidemic prevention and control. Regarding personal protection, Zhong Nanshan also reminded that for the general public, it is still necessary to strictly implement wearing masks, reduce gatherings, and do a good job in timely treatment of some basic diseases. "Now after the optimization and adjustment, we see that many people consciously reduce social gatherings, and the number of people wearing masks is not less than before, but more. This is a good phenomenon, which shows that our awareness of self-protection is very active. improve."
As for after infection, Zhong Nanshan suggested that most people can be isolated at home, pay attention to wearing N95 masks to minimize infection of family members, use antigen test every other day, and the test paper will be negative in a few days. If you have symptoms, such as a fever, generally the fever caused by Omicron rarely exceeds three days. If you still have a fever after three days, you should go to the doctor. "If it is a relatively serious underlying disease, it is easy to cause the aggravation of the underlying disease after infection. In such a situation, you should contact the hospital and the corresponding medical staff very closely. If something happens, you need to be sent to the hospital immediately."
Li Yimin said that in view of the fact that severe cases are mainly concentrated in the elderly with underlying diseases or vulnerable groups who have not been fully vaccinated, a large number of general people should not take medicine blindly, otherwise the risk will be higher. In particular, he pointed out that people with underlying diseases especially hope that they can seek medical treatment in time and receive targeted treatment. Don't dare to go to the hospital because of fear of getting sick from the new crown. "Receiving treatment normally is the best for life and health. protection of."
When will it return to normal?
In this regard, Yang Zifeng replied that in the past three years, there have been new methods for scientific early warning and prediction of epidemics. The application of transmission dynamics models combined with artificial intelligence algorithms, coupled with the laws of virus mutation and development that we have continuously grasped, can predict the trend and scale of epidemics.
Specific to this round of epidemic in Guangzhou, after optimizing and adjusting the epidemic prevention and control measures, Yang Zifeng believes that according to the comprehensive research and judgment of the model, first, the number of daily infections will reach a peak at the end of January and early February next year, "but there is no need to worry, because We have a lot of peak pressure measures”; second, around the middle and late March of next year, we will be able to enter a relatively stable stage.
Regarding the optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures, especially after the implementation of the "New Ten Measures", whether it will return to the serious situation in 2020, Zhong Nanshan made it clear that my answer is: "No!" The purpose of our country is "life first "At present, any adjustment and optimization is for this purpose. Even the latest "Ten Articles" have not given up the prevention of infection in essence.
Some people worry whether the virus will mutate in the direction of "high pathogenicity"; or will the symptoms of the disease worsen after repeated infection? Zhong Nanshan revealed that according to the current development trend of Omicron, the two new mutant strains that have emerged abroad, one has a higher transmission coefficient but is weaker in pathogenicity; The consensus is that "the probability of pathogenicity is weakened".
As for Fuyang, Zhong Nanshan thinks it is of little significance. At the same time, according to some foreign research data, most people will not be reinfected for a long time after infection.
zhttps://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2022-12-10/doc-imxweyqq8712259.shtml?cre=tianyi&mod=pcpager_china &loc=10&r=0&rfunc=45&tj=cxvertical_pc_pager_spt&tr =174