The end of the Spring Festival also marks the end of flu season for another year, but it leaves behind once more a fierce debate about the merits of vaccination.

Chinese authorities reported that this year’s flu outbreaks have been less severe than last year when unusual strains led to epidemics in Beijing and other cities. However, Hong Kong experienced a particularly bad winter, with hospitals struggling to cope. leading to authorities reinforcing the key messages: wash your hands, avoid crowds where possible… and that vulnerable individuals such as children and the elderly should be vaccinated.

The debate about the general merits of preventive vaccination is, as far as the vast majority of scientists are concerned, concluded. The risks of vaccination are much lower than the risks of preventable childhood diseases, and arguments linking injections with autism have been shown to be dependent on spurious evidence. Properly-conducted large scale research has found there to be no correlation at all between autistic spectrum disorders and the MMR vaccine. Furthermore, scientists say, parents who do not immunize their family are putting other children at risk as well as their own.

However, many see the flu vaccine as a different issue. Parents who would not dream of denying their child the standard program of vaccinations draw a line at undergoing the risk of an injection for influenza. They point out that the vaccine only protects against certain strains of flu, and that its effectiveness varies from year to year as the viruses evolve.

In part, this is because of misuse of the term “flu” in the English language. People often speak of having “a touch of flu” when they really have a heavy cold. Influenza is a killer, with Hong Kong reporting seven deaths in the space of five days this year, and several children critically ill in hospital.

Arguments about the importance of immunization assume that the vaccines are properly stored and administered. In 2018, a third vaccine scandal in as many years alarmed many parents about the safety of the program in China. It should be pointed out that the vaccines in last year’s case were not dangerous in themselves, though they were believed to offer inadequate protection against deadly diseases like diphtheria.

It can be difficult for parents to wade through the available information and misinformation. The Internet can be particularly unhelpful, with a British study blaming social media for spreading myths and alarmism on the subject. We recommend, as always, that if you are concerned you should seek the advice of a trusted medical professional.

The Year of the Pig may be off to a rough start, at least for pigs and hog farm owners in China as authorities are implementing measures to curb the current outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in several northern provinces.

On Wednesday (January 2), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs published a regulation requiring slaughterhouses to ensure that pig products are tested negative for African swine fever virus (ASFV) before selling them to the market. It also orders slaughterhouses to cull all pigs and cease operations for at least 48 hours should there be an outbreak in their area.

The regulation goes into effect from February 1, the week before the Spring Festival. The move comes after Chinese authorities confirmed outbreaks that have affected at least 86,000 hogs on farms in Beijing’s Tongzhou District and others in Heilongjiang Province, the largest yet to happen since this highly contagious and fatal disease in pigs was first detected domestically in August 2018.

Dr. Liu Haixia, a general practitioner from IMC Beijing, explains that ASF is not a zoonosis, therefore, it does not cause disease in people nor infect humans.

The current African swine fever outbreak in China has affected at least 86,000 hogs, threatening pork production before Chinese New Year, a time when demand for pork products is at its highest level

People cannot be infected by ASFV even if they come in contact or consume the meat of infected pigs and the virus can be killed by high temperature and disinfectants,” she explained.

However, many people are still worried as they recall the 2009 influenza pandemic caused by the Pandemic H1N1/09 virus strain, a combination of different virus types that included a Eurasian pig flu virus, thus coining its informal term, “swine flu”.

Meanwhile, the Chinese public is still on the heels of a recent vaccine scandal, which prompted a crackdown and a subsequent “perilous drop” in the supply of influenza vaccines for the winter flu season, affecting major cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou. Despite that, the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in November that they were expecting a drop in cases during the current flu season.

What Parents Need to Know about the Recent Vaccine Crisis

 

 

Dr. Liu highlights the importance of getting a flu shot as it lowers the risk of contracting influenza, especially for high-risk groups including:
– Children aged 5 and below
– People over 65
– Pregnant women
– Health workers
– People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other severe respiratory conditions
– People with chronic conditions like diabetes, or liver or kidney disease, HIV
– People who have had an organ transplant.

According to Dr. Liu, it is recommended to get the vaccine between the months of September and November, but people can still get a shot beyond that period as long as the flu season is still existing. She also says these preventive actions will help lower the risk of contracting the flu virus:
– Washing hands frequently
– Wearing a mask when going outside, especially on a polluted day
– Ensuring proper room ventilation
– Avoiding crowded places
– Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by eating more vegetables and fruits, having enough sleep, exercising frequently

If you are showing respiratory symptoms such as cough and sore throat, or have fever or experience muscle or body aches, it’s better to visit your doctor or take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

For more information about swine influenza, visit the facts page of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention here.

Photo: Leah Kelley, Matthias Zomer via Pexels

If you thought the coast was clear, you couldn’t be more wrong. We advise you all to remain vigilant as a spike in flu outbreaks, mainly triggered by the change of seasons and holiday travel, are on the way.

China Daily published that the next wave of flu cases are expected to occur in March, and while they won’t be as numerous as we saw in January and February, the strains are still very icky and worth avoiding at all costs.

China was recently hit by one of its worst flu outbreaks in recent years, leaving hospitals understaffed as the virus caused more than 273,000 recorded cases and 56 deaths, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. In January of 2016, flu cases numbered a little over 30,000, just to give a sense of how massive this outbreak was when compared to previous seasons.

While the spike in flu cases predicted for March will likely not be as fierce as our previous encounter, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that this new wave may coincide with the seasonal emergence of H7N9 bird flu, which is most active in March and is substantially more dangerous.

While they don’t expect a surge in bird flu cases like the 273,000 that occurred in January, more than 1,500 human cases of bird flu have been reported on the Chinese mainland since 2013, and have resulted in more than 600 deaths. So stay away from birds for the time being, and maybe wait a couple of weeks before taking up the sport of pigeon racing if that was on your Beijing bucket list.

Photo: China Daily

Has the office been looking a little empty this week? Winter, and especially early January, is a time of increased illness thanks to weakened immune systems and dropping temperatures, the perfect conditions for viruses to stay airborne and take hold.

This year, however, is proving particularly bad in several big cities, including Beijing, as influenza spreads and leaves many hospitals full and underprepared. The increase in sufferers is being put down the prevalence of a number of virus strains that had not otherwise been seen in the past few years, leading to a lack of immunity among the already vulnerable population.

The flu epidemic has been growing in recent weeks, with 5,298 flu cases reported in Beijing alone between Dec 18 and 24, an increase of more than 80 percent on the previous week, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Regular medicines are unlikely to help fend off the flu unless you take them within the first 48 hours of having experienced symptoms

The spate of infections has even proven too much for one top-tier hospital in Tianjin, the Tianjin Haihe Hospital, which has had to temporarily shut its pediatrics ward due to sickness among its staff, reports Tianjin’s Metro Express.

In response to the epidemic, the National Health and Family Planning Commission held a press conference on Tuesday outlining the unusual circumstances. Jiao Yahui, deputy head of the commission’s medical administration and management bureau, did however make assurances that there is no cause for panic, as no mutations have been found that would make the virus stronger, more drug-resistant, or easier to transmit.

While flu vaccines are recommended by the World Health Organisation as a way to prevent the three dominant strains of flu, they have limited effect against B/Yamagta, the strain behind China’s outbreaks this winter. Traditional flu prevention tips such as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, good hygiene, and keeping distance from others, especially those who are sick, are your best bet at fending off the illness.

Email: amberdelahaye@thebeijinger.com
WeChat: amberdelahaye

Photos: zhytuku.china.com, pexels.com

I always thought that the flu jab was only for old people. The yearly awareness campaigns in the UK always seemed to feature benevolent elderly types, grinning and proclaiming that the injection saved them from a fatal bout of the sniffles.

So I was a little surprised when I saw the recent call from New Century Women and Children’s Hospital urging parents to get their children vaccinated this winter. Surely it’s best for kids to get ill when they’re young and build immunity for their later years?

Surely not. It seems that large parts of the medical community actually support the administering of the flu vaccine in children over 6 months old.

Now I think about it, it’s rather obvious. Influenza is a virus that changes every year. Being immune to one strand is of little consequence next year (which is why a yearly injection is needed to protect against the virus).

So while you may think that seeing the little ones power through, comforted by the belief that it will only make them stronger, it is actually just causing unnecessary suffering. Or perhaps worse.

Flu is actually a pretty nasty illness. People often say “flu” when they mean “cold” (or as it’s known when I get it – “man flu”) but aside from all the vomiting and fevers, the real thing can be serious for children. It can even lead to a hospital stay and more complicated conditions, including pneumonia and bronchitis.

Moreover, by protecting your kid you’re also preventing one of flu’s most effective spreaders from bringing down everyone else around them. Children’s tendency to poke things, put things in their mouths, and generally disregard one another’s personal space, means that they pass the virus on at warp speed. According to Global Times, more than 40 percent of preschoolers miss some time at school each year because of flu.

So, I will happily admit that I was wrong on this one. A little further digging found the real reason why the UK’s National Health Service didn’t promote the vaccination to kids when I was young: it couldn’t afford to roll it out across the country. Now that it can, it is, and all 2- and 3-year-olds in the UK are being offered the vaccination for free.

A free service does operate with some of the schools here in Beijing, but not all. So if your child isn’t provided with a jab, or is below school age, then the good news is that it’s affordable to choose private (it should cost less than RMB 100 per shot). Contrary to my long-held misconception, it is probably worth getting.

Photo courtesy of C. Thomas Anderson (Flickr)