Yang Zhan, president of the No. 8
People's Hospital, speaks during a press conference in Guangzhou, capital
of south China's Guangdong Province, on May 29, 2009. China Friday
announced an influenza A/H1N1 patient in southern Guangdong Province as
the first case of domestic infection on the mainland, sounding new alarm
of the epidemic since it appeared in China early this month. (Xinhua/Liu
Dawei) Photo
Gallery>>>
BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China raised vigilance
against influenza A/H1N1 Friday after a patient in southern Guangdong Province
was declared the first case of local transmission on the mainland.
Meanwhile the government and the World Health
Organization (WHO) expressed confidence that the spread of the virus can be
slowed down in China as authorities moved to maintain a high level of
surveillance for early detection and treatment of the cases.
A shutdown notice is posted at a wedding
photography studio where the infected female works as a beautician in
Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on May 29, 2009.
(Xinhua/Liu Dawei) Photo Gallery>>>
The patient, a 24-year-old woman living in
Guangdong's capital city of Guangzhou, was believed to be infected by a man from
New York on Monday. Guangdong provincial department of health confirmed both as
A/H1N1 flu cases Friday noon.
Because the case indicated that the flu virus began to spread to local populations from an imported case, "the Ministry of Health attaches great importance to the case and will soon discuss to step up prevention and control work nationwide," the ministry said in a statement.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) is also discussing further measures, such as the closure of schools and
entertainment venues, should the situation turn serious, the center's chief
epidemiologist Zeng Guang said on Friday.
But he stressed that there was no need for panic
because China has made careful preparations and the disease is largely
preventable and treatable.
The WHO also said there is no cause for alarm, even
though the situation is still evolving.
"At the moment, most of the confirmed cases in China
are linked to travel. We don't have any evidence of sustained community
transmission," WHO's Representative in China Hans Troedsson said through a press
release.
The infected woman, surnamed Dai, is a beautician at
a wedding photography studio in Guangzhou. She had close contact with a
28-year-old Chinese-American man, who works in a hospital in New York.
The man, surnamed Li, developed a sore throat on May
24 after he flew from New York to Guangzhou, via Incheon City in the Republic of
Korea. On Monday and Tuesday, he and his girlfriend spent two days with studio
workers, including the beautician, to take bridal photos.
He fell ill and went to hospital Wednesday. On the
same day, the beautician also developed a sore throat, headache and fever. She
was sent to hospital on Thursday and tested positive to the A/H1N1 flu virus.
"The body temperature of Ms. Dai becomes normal and
she's recovering," said Yang Zhan, director of the No. 8 People's Hospital in
Guangzhou, where she is receiving treatment.
Most people who had close contact with Dai and Li,
including Li's girlfriend and family members, have been put under medical
observation and are in stable condition, said Yang Zhicong, deputy director of
the Guangzhou city's CDC.
A national expert team was sent to Guangdong to offer
technical assistance. The ministry called a national video conference Friday
afternoon to discuss further control steps.
Also on Friday, the Guangdong health department said
two suspected cases in Shenzhen city, near Hong Kong, were confirmed as A/H1N1
flu.
The patients, a 22-year-old American male and his
21-year-old sister, took the flight CI0011 from New York to Taipei on May 17,
and took CI0601 from Taipei to Hong Kong two days later. They traveled to
Guangdong's Dongguan city, Shenzhen and Hong Kong by car and subway on several
occasions.
On Wednesday they were found to have fevers while
crossing border at Shenzhen from Hong Kong, and were sent to hospital for
treatment. On Thursday they were suspected of being infected with A/H1N1 flu
following tests conducted by the Guangdong provincial CDC.
All the 11 people who had close contact with the two
patients are now under medical observation.
As of Friday, 21 confirmed cases in the Chinese
mainland involve eight provinces and municipalities: six in Guangdong, five in
Beijing, four in Shanghai, two in Fujian, and one each in Hunan, Shandong,
Sichuan and Zhejiang. But seven of them had recovered and were discharged from
hospitals.
Shanghai municipal government spokesperson Chen Qiwei
said on Friday afternoon that the municipal CDC confirmed two A/H1N1 flu cases
on the day, including a 33-year-old stewardess who had been on the same
Melbourne-Shanghai flight taken by a flu patient.
Medical experts have expressed worries that China
faces a growing risk of domestic spread of the A/H1N1 flu as more cases from
abroad are being discovered.
Zeng Guang with the national CDC said the country
could hardly be spared of domestic infection. "It's just a matter of time --
sooner or later," he said.
He said China has effectively delayed the occurrence
of local transmission of the flu for nearly 20 days since the first imported
case was discovered on May 11.
The experts said there is no need for the public to
panic even after the case of domestic infection was discovered, mainly because
the trace of the disease spread is under close surveillance and that China has
made careful plans to respond.
The situation is different from the wide spread of
domestic cases in Japan recently because the source and route of flu infection
is clear in China, said Li Xingwang, director of the infectious disease sector
with the Beijing Ditan Hospital.
"The disease is still under control since people who
have close contact with the domestic case could be traced and quarantined for
medical observation in time," he told Xinhua Friday.
"There is no death or serious case (caused by A/H1N1
flu) in the mainland so far, which means this flu is still mild, even milder
than seasonal flu," he said.
Beijing Ditan Hospital said on Friday that the latest
patient in Beijing was on the way of recovery as all symptoms disappeared and
his body temperature became normal following six-day treatment.
"The top task for us is to continue to strengthen the
surveillance in order to discover new local cases and curb the spread as soon as
possible," said Zeng.
Zeng was echoed by Troedsson. He said, "we cannot
stop the virus from spreading but we can take measures to slow it down and to
mitigate its impact in the community."
The health ministry has expanded the nation's flu
monitoring network from 84 laboratories and 197 hospitals to 203 labs and
364hospitals.
Troedsson commended the authorities for sharing the
information in a quick and transparent way.
"The Chinese government is working on further
investigations, and has responded with a major effort to limit the spread. We
are in regular contact with them for updates. Any information about confirmed
cases will be passed quickly to the public," he said.
He also urged the Chinese government to make sure
there was a surge capacity for health care facilities and services in the event
of a community outbreak, when health care workers may have to deal with an
increase in A/H1N1 patients in addition to regular patients.
People must be informed about the situation and how
they can protect themselves against infection by taking simple but effective
measures like social distancing and practicing good hygiene, Troedsson said.
GENEVA, May 28 (Xinhua) --
The Chinese government has mounted "a very robust response" to the threat of
A/H1N1 influenza and the efforts are paying off, the head of World Health
Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
"The ministry of health under the coordination of
government leaders mounted a very robust response so that they are able to track
down all the cases," Dr Margaret Chan told Xinhua in an interview. Full story
