Please click Specials: A/H1N1 flu in China
The number of children visiting the city's hospitals for flu and fevers has increased by 30 percent above normal, with 80 percent of them confirmed to have contracted A/H1N1 flu, according to the city's center for disease control and prevention (CDC) yesterday (Nov 10).
The CDC couldn't provide the exact number of A/H1N1 cases as they had been treated as common influenza, said Xie Xu, director of the center.
" We've had about 5,000 patients coming to the hospital every day during the past few weeks, about 1,500 more than the usual number in the same period in previous years, and most were children with flu", said Lu Yan, a head nurse at Shenzhen Childre's Hospital in Futian District, yesterday.
The number of patients seen at the pediatric departments of Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen No. 2 People's Hospital and Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital has also doubled over the past few weeks, with around 450 children a day.
"Changes in the weather and the increased spread of the virus are the main reasons for the increase. And because of the fear of A/H1N1, many parents take their children to hospital as soon as their children develop anything abnormal", said Lv.
The virus has spread rapidly since September, particularly among children and students, Xie said.
"Most of the patients in Shenzhen suffer very mild symptoms. Most don't even have to go to hospital" , said Zhou Boping, president of the Shenzhen No.3 People's Hospital.
Meanwhile, the second batch of the A/H1N1 flu vaccine, more than 100,000 doses, will arrive in the city at the end of the week, according to Zhang Shiying, director of the immunity management department of the CDC, yesterday.
The vaccine will be given to key groups, such as front line medical workers, students and staff working at check points, police stations and airports, said Zhang.
The third batch is expected to arrive in Shenzhen at the beginning of next year, and will be given to students. Residents are expected to receive the vaccine in March, according to the national scheme.
Most of the first batch of 50,000 doses of the vaccine has already been handed over to the districts for inoculation. Only a few doses were held for emergency storage, said Zhang.
More than 3,000 people in the city had received the vaccine as of Nov 8 and none showed any side effects from the injection, said Zhang.
