A press conference held by National Health Commission Photo: VCG

Currently, influenza and other respiratory infectious diseases are in seasonal outbreak in China. Monitoring results show that this winter and spring respiratory infectious diseases are all caused by known pathogens, and no new infectious diseases have emerged, Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said during a press conference on Friday.

The recent increase in influenza cases is part of a normal seasonal outbreak that typically occurs every winter and spring. Wang Dayan, a researcher at the Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that the latest weekly surveillance data indicates a decline in the positive influenza virus test rate in most northern provinces, with some southern provinces also beginning to see a decrease.

The coronavirus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and other respiratory infectious diseases are all at low epidemic levels, according to the press conference.

According to the conference, this influenza outbreak is less intense compared to the previous winter season, and the current season began later and is anticipated to peak roughly one month after the previous winter season.

 So far this winter, H1N1 has been the predominant subtype of circulating influenza viruses across regions, while H3N2 was dominant during the last flu season.

Global Times