Vaccine demand surges in 2nd wave

The second round of A/H1N1 influenza has geared up all over the world, while China's health authorities announced Monday a third death from the flu on the mainland, sparking huge demand for a vaccine to prevent further fatalities.

The latest victim, an 18-year-old female student, was reported in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sunday, the Xinjiang Regional Health Department said in a statement Tuesday.

This was the first A/H1N1 - related death in Xinjiang, where 153 people have tested positive for the flu virus and are being treated at hospitals or in quarantine at home, the statement said.

In total, the Chinese mainland had reported 35,664 confirmed cases of the virus by Monday, the Ministry of Health said.

Influenza was on the rise in Beijing. Municipal Health Bureau said over 4,000 flu cases were reported Saturday alone, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Official data indicated that the A/H1N1 virus accounted for 52.1 percent of all influenza cases from October 12-18, the paper said.

China is currently experiencing what experts call "a second round of A/H1N1 flu infection," as recent infections are more widespread and increasing rapidly.

"Amid the sharp increase of domestic flu cases, China is renewing its strategy for prevention and control so as to focus on enhancing precautionary measures, and strictly monitor densely populated communities and patients in critical condition," Liang Wannian, deputy director of the health emergency office of the Ministry of Health, said Monday.

A total of 26,588 patients have recovered. Fourteen of the 44 patients in serious condition had been cured, the ministry said.

In the early spread of the flu, the majority of cases came from abroad, while currently, more and more citizens are being infected within the country.

Another new devel opment is that the typical seasonal flu and the A/H1N1 flu are spreading simultaneously.

Liu Youning, an epidemiologist at the PLA General Hospital, excluded the possibility of cross-infection between typical seasonal flu and the A/H1N1 flu, warning that "the number of A/H1N1 flu cases is likely to mount in the coming winter."

Another priority is to lower the mortality rate of those patients in severe condition, he said, adding that the possibility of death is slim.

The disease had earlier caused two deaths on the Chinese mainland – an 18-year-old woman in Tibet who died on October 4, and a 43-year-old woman who died on October 16 in Tibet's neighboring province of Qinghai.


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