BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ministry of Health on Monday disproved an online rumor that the recent A/H1N1 influenza outbreak in Beijing was caused by vaccination among students for the country's National Day celebration.
"The rumor violates scientific theories and does not consist with the truth," said the ministry's spokesman Mao Qunan. "It is totally fabrication."
Reports on some foreign websites said primary and secondary school students in Beijing were given vaccine shots to prevent A/H1N1 influenza before the People's Republic of China celebrated its 60th founding anniversary on Oct. 1. And those vaccines had led to the recent outbreak in the capital city.
The spokesman said that Beijing did not carry out large-scale vaccination among primary and secondary school students before the National Day.
Besides, no epidemic outbreak would occur among people who have already been given vaccination, since the vaccine was proved to be effective, he added.
As the first country that issued a production license for A/H1N1 vaccines, China had inoculated more than 3.78 million people as of Saturday, with no reports of serious adverse reaction, according to the ministry.
About 33.4 million doses of vaccines have been approved for use as of Oct. 31, 26 million of which have been dispatched to local medical institutions.
Calculating the current product abilities of the eight domestic vaccine manufacturers, a total of 100 million doses of A/H1N1 flu vaccines will be produced by the first quarter of next year, according to the ministry.
But for now, about 390 million people on the Chinese mainland needed the flu shots including service personnel of the People's Liberation Army and armed police forces, police, medical staff, teachers, students, people working at key public service posts, and patients with chronic or cardiovascular diseases, experts said.
As of Monday, more than 48,000 confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland, 74 percent of whom had recovered. Among the 118 serious cases, 84 were still in hospital, the ministry said.
The Chinese mainland has reported seven deaths from the flu since Oct. 2.
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BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The A/H1N1 influenza was spreading rapidly across the country but it remained under control, an official with the Ministry of Health said here Sunday.
"Currently close to 80 percent of the country's total flu infections are A/H1N1 flu cases, though the state of the flu was still mild and there was no evidence of virus mutation," Liang Wannian said. Full story
Chinese premier urges tightened measures against A/H1N1 flu
BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday called for tightened prevention measures against A/H1N1 influenza as the country recorded an increasing number of people catching seasonal influenza upon the arrival of winter.
In a visit to a children's hospital in the Chinese capital, Wen said the country faces severe challenges in the prevention and control of A/H1N1 and some areas are likely to have a sharp increase in the number of patients infected by the epidemic. Full story
A/H1N1 accounts for 80% of China's total flu cases: official
BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The A/H1N1 influenza virus is responsible for nearly 80 percent of China's total flu infections and most of the mass cases occurred in schools, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Health (MOH).
"As the weather keeps getting colder, many regions are entering the traditional period of possible flu outbreak, and prevention and control work is becoming tougher," Liang Wannian, vice director of the health emergency office under the MOH, said Thursday during an online interview with the official website of the Chinese government. Full story
China warned of "endless troubles" without proper flu inoculation
BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's top epidemiologist Zeng Guang on Thursday urged more people to be inoculated against A/H1N1 flu while reassuring the public about the vaccine safety.
"If people do not have themselves vaccinated now, there will be endless troubles in the future," Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in an interview with Xinhua. Full story
Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu ¡¡
