Poster News reporter Tian Liu reports from Beijing.
On December 2, the National Health Commission held a press conference to introduce the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases in winter. Wang Dayan, director of the National Influenza Center of the Institute of Viral Diseases of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at the meeting that compared with last winter, the main circulating influenza A (H3N2) subtypes and B viruses have not changed.
Wang Dayan introduced that the influenza virus is prone to mutation, and for the public, it is meaningful only if there is a mutation of public health significance, which includes two aspects, on the one hand, the sensitivity of the virus to antiviral drugs, and whether the virus has drug resistance mutations. The National Influenza Center and many laboratories around the world have been monitoring the sensitivity of influenza viruses to anti-influenza virus drugs, and the monitoring results show that influenza viruses are sensitive to several current anti-influenza virus drugs, and anti-influenza virus drugs are effective against influenza viruses. On the other hand, it is the compatibility between the epidemic virus and the vaccine, that is, whether the virus has undergone antigenic changes. Compared with last winter, the composition of influenza vaccine administered this winter has not changed from last winter's influenza A(H3N2) subtypes and B, which are now predominantly circulating and are consistent with the major clades circulating in most parts of the world.
Wang Dayan said that it is currently the high influenza season, and people who have not been vaccinated against influenza before are still effective when they receive influenza vaccine. Getting a flu vaccine can effectively reduce infection, and even if you are infected, you can reduce the incidence of illness, and even if you get sick, you can reduce the severity of the disease.
Domestic and foreign practice has proved that the use of vaccines is one of the most cost-effective means of prevention, and it is recommended that everyone get vaccinated against influenza as soon as possible. People over 6 months old can receive influenza vaccine, especially for high-risk groups such as children, the elderly, and patients with chronic diseases, who have a higher risk of severe disease after being infected with influenza. Wang Dayan said.