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On August 1, the 2020 Seasonal Influenza Prevention and Control Strategies Academic Exchange Conference was held. The meeting set up a main venue in Shenzhen, and branch venues in 16 cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Shenyang, etc. The conference is sponsored by the Chinese Society of Preventive Medicine and supported by Sanofi Pasteur . Yang Weizhong, Vice President of the Chinese Society of Preventive Medicine, Dr. Lance E. Rodewald, Senior Consultant of the National Immunization Program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Feng Luzhao, Professor of Peking Union Medical College of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and other experts from centers and medical institutions at all levels attended the meeting.
Unlike previous years, as the autumn and winter approaches, my country may usher in a severe situation of "double epidemic" of influenza-new coronavirus, and influenza will become a key factor affecting the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic. In this regard, experts reiterated that getting influenza vaccination every year is the most effective means to prevent influenza, and drug prevention cannot replace vaccination.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO recommends priority for influenza vaccination, especially for health workers, the elderly and pregnant women." Dr. Lance E. Rodewald introduced.
Beware of the "dual epidemic" of influenza and the new crown epidemic
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, about 650,000 deaths worldwide due to influenza each year. In autumn and winter, the flu will arrive as scheduled. When it is intertwined with the new coronavirus, what kind of "fragments" will it change? "We need to pay attention to the common epidemic of the new crown- influenza virus in advance." Professor Feng Luzhao emphasized.
As early as May, Sun Tieying, director of the Department of Internal Medicine of Beijing Hospital, said in light of the observations on the front line of the fight against the epidemic in Wuhan that among the 50 severe COVID-19 patients admitted, 18 influenza tested positive for nucleic acid, and there were many "double infections" of the new coronavirus-flu. For the southern hemisphere, which has already entered the flu season, two or even multiple viruses are prevalent in the population at the same time. On the one hand, it brings great trouble to doctors' diagnosis and treatment work. On the other hand, patients are exposed to cross-infection caused by medical environment during the epidemic, which puts a heavy burden on the medical system. In the absence of effective COVID-19 vaccine protection, more and more experts have begun to call for influenza vaccination to provide universal immune protection for susceptible people and help fight the epidemic.
people at high risk. Preventing influenza vaccination from advance
is the most effective way to prevent influenza and can reduce the risk of influenza and its serious complications for vaccinated people. According to global statistics, influenza vaccination for the elderly can reduce the severity of disease/related complications by up to 60%, and the mortality rate by up to 80%. Influenza vaccination can reduce the risk of influenza by 70%, and the risk of influenza outbreaks in school is nearly 90%.
Campus has a high population density and is one of the most likely places for influenza to spread. According to the city's clustered epidemic data monitored by Shenzhen's Disease Control Information Management System in 2019 and January-July 2020, the campus epidemic accounts for more than 95%, which causes interference to the normal development of teaching activities. In severe cases, the entire class will be suspended.
In order to increase the influenza vaccination rate and avoid campus cluster influenza outbreaks, Shenzhen City implemented a free influenza vaccination project for the first time in 2019, and the municipal government will centrally purchase and pay the bill. Through medical training in school medical parks, school health knowledge lectures, etc., campus influenza prevention and control education is strengthened in multiple dimensions. Relevant experts called on other provinces and cities to strengthen influenza prevention and control according to local conditions, especially considering including influenza publicly funded projects in the decision-making scope, increasing the rate of mass influenza vaccination, and building a healthy city.
influenza vaccine batch issuance may double
Due to the high variability and uncertainty of the influenza virus, in order to make the vaccine more effective, the virus components contained in the influenza vaccine need to be updated regularly. Every year, the WHO screens out the virus strains that are most likely to be prevalent in the next flu epidemic season through the monitoring results of influenza centers in hundreds of countries around the world, and recommends the preparation of vaccines for influenza vaccine manufacturers. Three strains of the epidemic virus strains in the northern hemisphere announced by the WHO this year have been updated compared with last year, two of which are from Maoming, Guangdong and Hong Kong, my country, which also means that my country's influenza prevention and control situation this year cannot be underestimated.
At present, all influenza vaccines on the market in China are cultured with eggs as materials.Generally speaking, it takes half a year for the vaccine to go from tissue chicken embryos to market. According to this calculation, it has now reached a critical period to ensure the supply of influenza vaccines.
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the public's attention and demand for influenza vaccines may increase significantly this year. Feng Luzhao mentioned that the batch issuance of influenza vaccines in 2020 is expected to double compared with 2019, reaching 50 million doses. However, this can only cover 4% of my country's population. The overall vaccination rate of the population is still relatively low, and high-risk populations need to be given priority.
In addition, the influenza vaccines approved for marketing in my country are divided into trivalent and quadrivalent inactivated vaccines , trivalent live attenuated vaccines, etc. In this regard, Professor Feng Luzhao quoted the description in the "Technical Guidelines for the Prevention of Influenza Vaccine in China (2019-2020)" to introduce that for people who can receive different types of vaccine products from different manufacturers, any influenza vaccine can be voluntarily vaccinated with, and there is no priority recommendation.
It is worth noting that considering the possibility of a common epidemic of influenza-new crown, the first batch of vaccines for this year's influenza season have been completed, nearly a month earlier than in 2019.
Zhang Heping, general manager of Sanofi Pasteur China, said that as the only foreign-funded vaccine company to invest in and build factories in China, Sanofi Pasteur has always been committed to providing high-quality vaccines to the Chinese people and promoting the development of China's immune prevention cause. Faced with the common epidemic risk of influenza and the new crown this year, Sanofi Pasteur will spare no effort to ensure the stable supply of influenza vaccines, build a defense line for the health of the Chinese people, and contribute to the fight against the epidemic.
Editor in charge: Sun Hui
