Recently, influenza warnings have been issued successively in many places in the south, including Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hainan and other places. The latest weekly report on influenza monitoring released by the National Influenza Center on June 24 showed that the positive ra

China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Yu Na Intern reporter Sun Mengyuan Beijing report

Recently, many places in the south, including Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hainan and other places, successively issued influenza warnings. The latest weekly report on influenza monitoring released by the National Influenza Center on June 24 showed that the positive rate of influenza virus testing in southern my country continued to rise, mainly influenza virus in some provinces. Some provinces have entered the high incidence period in summer and are higher than the same period from 2019 to 2021, but no antigenic, genetic characteristics and drug resistance variants of the recent epidemic strain virus were found.

"H3N2 subtype influenza appears abnormally in summer, and this flu was prevalent in the summer of 2015 and 2017. The previously consistent new crown prevention and control measures have reduced the public's contact with respiratory pathogens, the influenza infection rate in the population has greatly reduced, and the pre-existing immunity level has decreased, resulting in a large accumulation of susceptible people. The recent hot weather in the south is conducive to the spread of the virus. In addition, the low level of influenza vaccination rate is an important reason for this influenza outbreak." Chang Rongshan, an expert in virology at , told the reporter of the China Times.

Influenza raided, and oseltamivir , known as the "magic medicine of influenza", came back into people's sight and was robbed and hoarded.

html Since May, oseltamivir has been out of stock in Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi and other places. Ali Health Pharmacy data shows that since June (as of the 26th), the purchase volume of oseltamivir increased by 715% month-on-month in May, among which the purchase volume of Fujian, Jiangxi, Hainan and other provinces grew the fastest. Not only online and offline pharmacies, but also hospitals have a shortage of drugs to varying degrees.

htmlOn June 30, the reporter searched for oseltamivir on the online drug sales platform. The receiving locations were Guangdong and Hainan, both showed no stock, but there were pharmacies available in Hunan and Guangxi, and many places in the north had sufficient supply. Customer service said that areas without stock need to be transferred from other places, and it is expected that they will be delivered in 1-3 days. As one of the few online pharmacies in stock, the delivery time has also been affected. The customer service replied that the order volume has been large recently and the delivery time has been delayed. It is expected that the shipment will be about 48 hours after placing an order.

Influenza raid

Influenza refers to Influenza , an acute respiratory infectious disease (referred to as influenza) caused by influenza viruses, and is also a highly contagious and fast-transmitting disease. Compared with common cold , the biggest feature of influenza in terms of symptoms is the high peak of fever, which lasts for a long time. Some children will also have systemic symptoms such as headache and muscle pain. Common colds are mainly respiratory symptoms such as runny nose and cough. In addition, compared with the common cold, influenza is more likely to have complications such as otitis media and pneumonia.

Although influenza has an outbreak cycle every year, the mortality rate cannot be underestimated. The mortality rate varies due to virus types, strains, age, environment and concurrent infection rates. US CDCh data shows that the influenza mortality rate is about one in a thousand. According to the data from the Chinese disease control system, from 2010 to 2015, there were an average of 88,100 influenza-related respiratory diseases in the country each year, accounting for 8.2% of all respiratory diseases deaths.

Just as the flu in the south was prevalent, the situation in the north was completely the same. The latest monitoring data from the National Influenza Center shows that from June 13 to 19, the positive rate of influenza virus testing in southern provinces continued to rise, and influenza activity in northern provinces was at an extremely low level.

In Chang Rongshan's view, the source of H3N2 subtype influenza transmission itself is in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Due to the COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the flow of people has been reduced, so the epidemic situation in the south has been continuously. At the same time, he also reminded that with the relaxation of epidemic prevention and control policies, the possibility of personnel flow increases, and the risk of influenza spreading from south to north should also be prevented. "The elderly and children are susceptible to people, and it is recommended to give priority to influenza vaccination. Secondly, if you are unfortunately infected with the influenza virus, you must seek medical treatment in time, go out less, wash your hands frequently, and self-isolate them to block the epidemic risk." Chang Rongshan said in an interview with our reporter.

Guosheng Securities believes that the incidence of influenza in 2022 is higher than in previous years and there is an explosive trend.Due to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic and vaccination from 2020 to 2021, the influenza vaccination rate is low. This is a different situation in the face of influenza viruses in recent years. The overall prevention ability of the people to have influenza virus should be lower than in previous years, and it also laid the groundwork for the potential outbreak of the influenza epidemic. The latest research of

Lancet shows that patients who are infected with the new coronavirus and influenza have a risk of ventilating machines being 4.14 times more likely to be infected with the new coronavirus alone, and the risk of death is 2.35 times more likely to be dying. On June 25, at the 2022 Academic Forum on Respiratory Disease Prevention and Control and Vaccine, Yu Wenzhou, director of the Immunization Service Office of the Immunization Program Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said that according to existing research, co-infection of new coronavirus and influenza will increase the risk of severe illness and death.

Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 have the same transmission mode and similar clinical characteristics. The high-risk population, high-risk population and the required medical resources are highly overlapping. In this regard, Chang Rongshan suggested that if symptoms of a cold are found, it is recommended to give priority to the new crown nucleic acid test. After excluding the new crown, then undergo influenza qPCR test. The weekly report of the National Influenza Center for

shows that since October 1, 2021, drug resistance monitoring has shown that all A (H3N2) subtypes and B influenza strains are sensitive to neuraminidase inhibitors and polymerase inhibitors. At present, neuraminidase inhibitors approved for influenza antiviral use in my country include oseltamivir, paramivir and zanamivir. According to the Guidelines for Treating Influenza (2018 Edition), oseltamivir is listed as a recommended influenza drug. According to drug instructions, oseltamivir is mainly used for influenza A and B treatment in adults and children aged 1 and over.

html Since May, oseltamivir has been out of stock in Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi and other places.

Regarding the out of stocks of oseltamivir, some media quoted relevant persons from Dongyangguang Pharmaceuticals as saying that the company is currently in full production and sales state, and is actively making production adjustments and making sufficient stockings to deal with the current flu outbreak.

In addition to oseltamivir, many companies have stated through interactive platforms that existing products are comparable to oseltamivir. Poinsettia Pharmaceutical said that the company developed and produced Qinxiang Qingjie Oral Liquid as a special antiviral drug for children. It is the first special drug for children in China to verify the efficacy of influenza treatment in children at the highest evidence-based level that is comparable to oseltamivir and improves symptoms such as sore throat. Yiling Pharmaceutical said that many previous basic and clinical studies have confirmed that Lianhua Qingwen not only has a killing effect on influenza viruses such as type A H1N1, H3N2, avian influenza H7N9, and influenza B virus. The experimental results prove that Lianhua Qingwen is equivalent to oseltamivir in terms of the time of viral nucleic acid turning negative. The fever reduction time and relieve influenza-like symptoms such as cough, sore throat, and fatigue is better than oseltamivir. The treatment cost is only 1/8 of that of oseltamivir, showing the advantages of comprehensive intervention.

Many companies have laid out quadrivalent influenza vaccine

At present, influenza vaccination is the most effective way to prevent influenza. Due to the prevalence of the flu, the flu vaccine companies that were originally silent due to the new crown epidemic have become active again. Many companies have begun to make arrangements for the quadrivalent influenza vaccine covering the popular type A H3N2 subtype.

According to incomplete statistics, the current domestic companies that produce quadrivalent influenza vaccines include Hualan vaccine, Sinovac , Jindike Biologics, Hundred G biologics and Shanghai Institute of Biological Products , etc. In addition, many companies such as Watson Bio, Poinsettia Pharmaceutical have related products under development. Wind Pharmaceutical Database shows that as of September 2021, there are more than 10 companies with quadrivalent influenza vaccines in Phase III clinical practice, including Zhifei Bio, Guoguang Bio, Sanofi Pasteur , Fosun Pharmaceutical (Dalian Yalifeng) and Zhonghui Yuantong.

html At the end of May, Hualan Bio , Sinovac, and China Bio successively announced that the first batch of quadrivalent influenza virus lysis vaccines this year have obtained the batch issuance certificate of China Food and Drug Inspection Institute (hereinafter referred to as " China Inspection Institute "), and shipments have now been launched nationwide.

htmlOn June 22, Hualan Bio's Hualan Vaccine, a subsidiary of Hualan Bio, said on the Investor Relations platform that the company has built a sales network covering more than 30 provincial regions across the country, and has been shipped to many provinces across the country. Vaccination has begun in Hainan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei and other places. The relevant person in charge told our reporter that the raw material reserves are currently normal and the supply is sufficient. In terms of vaccine allocation, the other party said, "The vaccine demand is fed back by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to enterprises. Only when there is order is available. The epidemic in the south has been severe recently, and naturally there will be more orders than in the north." The announcement of

shows that the current influenza vaccine products of Hualan vaccine are mainly quadrivalent influenza vaccines, with a production capacity of 100 million doses per year, including adult dosage forms and children dosage forms. According to the bioproduct batch issuance data released by the China Food and Drug Inspection Institute, the number of batch issuance batches of Hualan vaccines and influenza vaccines in 2021 remains the first in China.

Jindike Biologics said that some batches of samples of the quadrivalent influenza virus cleavage vaccine produced by the company in 2022 have been sent to the China Food and Drug Inspection Institute for inspection, and will be issued in batches after the inspection is passed. "At present, the announcement of the China Procuratorate is still subject to the regulations. There is no latest progress. If the production capacity is still a reserve of 10 million doses per year." The relevant person in charge told our reporter.

htmlOn June 30, Watson Bio stated on the investor interaction platform that the company's quadrivalent influenza virus lysis vaccine is currently in the clinical research stage and is conducting clinical trials. The product has not yet been applied for market launch. The influenza virus mRNA vaccine developed by the company in cooperation with Lanque Biotech is currently in the preclinical research stage.

However, the research report of Huaan Securities pointed out that the severity of influenza in the northern region in 2022 has not yet been seen, and it is also impossible to directly observe residents' demand for influenza vaccines and flu cold medicines. There may be a situation where the actual demand is lower than expected. In addition, the shelf life of influenza vaccines is short. Once the mismatch of regional supply and demand or overall supply and demand mismatch, enterprises may make up for bad debts to prepare , so the influenza vaccine market still has risks.