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World faces risk of combined epidemic of influenza and COVID-19 in the coming winter: top Chinese epidemiologists
By Global Times
Published: Nov 02, 2022 12:29 PM
Updated: Nov 02, 2022 12:28 PM
The world still faces the risk of a combined pandemic of COVID-19 and influenza, especially this winter, Zhong Nanshan, top Chinese respiratory diseases expert, said on Tuesday in The World Flu Day 2022 Symposium that more efforts are needed to tackle the scientific problems of influenza prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Both COVID-19 and influenza viruses are respiratory viruses, and respiratory virus infections tend to have a short incubation period, rapid and wide spread, strong transmission, high incidence, and are difficult to control," Zhong pointed out. Once the epidemic caused by respiratory viruses breaks out, it often leads to serious public health crisis, and then becomes the focus of the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the world.
snip
"Since June, there has been a new outbreak of avian influenza in Europe and an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 infection in birds in the US, with a very high risk of spillover into humans. So the combination of influenza and COVID-19 is a very big challenge for us this winter and next spring," Gao Fu, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, also warned that the current level of COVID-19 vaccination is gradually increasing, but the flu vaccination rate is generally low.
more....
zhttps://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1278535.shtml
World faces risk of combined epidemic of influenza and COVID-19 in the coming winter: top Chinese epidemiologists
By Global Times
Published: Nov 02, 2022 12:29 PM
Updated: Nov 02, 2022 12:28 PM
The world still faces the risk of a combined pandemic of COVID-19 and influenza, especially this winter, Zhong Nanshan, top Chinese respiratory diseases expert, said on Tuesday in The World Flu Day 2022 Symposium that more efforts are needed to tackle the scientific problems of influenza prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Both COVID-19 and influenza viruses are respiratory viruses, and respiratory virus infections tend to have a short incubation period, rapid and wide spread, strong transmission, high incidence, and are difficult to control," Zhong pointed out. Once the epidemic caused by respiratory viruses breaks out, it often leads to serious public health crisis, and then becomes the focus of the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the world.
snip
"Since June, there has been a new outbreak of avian influenza in Europe and an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 infection in birds in the US, with a very high risk of spillover into humans. So the combination of influenza and COVID-19 is a very big challenge for us this winter and next spring," Gao Fu, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, also warned that the current level of COVID-19 vaccination is gradually increasing, but the flu vaccination rate is generally low.
more....
zhttps://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1278535.shtml