CRI听力: Chinese Flu Experts: No Possibility of Drastic Variations of A/H1N1 Virus in the Short Term

Anchor: Chinese flu experts say the A/H1N1 virus will not undergo drastic variations in the short term.
They have also urged health authorities and hospitals across China to remain vigilant for possible outbreaks within communities.

Zheng Chenguang has the details. (www.hXen.com)

Shu Yuelong, director of the Chinese National Influenza Center, ruled out the possibility for drastic variations of A/H1N1 virus in the short term.

He made the comment in response to reports of a variation of the virus found in Brazil.

"I don't think the virus will mutate drastically in the short term. That's because mankind's low immunity to the virus, has not pressed it to evolve."

On Tuesday, Brazilian health officials announced that they have found a mutated version of the A/H1N1 virus in some of the country's confirmed cases.

Shu Yuelong warned that Chinese disease control staff should still keep an eye on any possible variations of the flu virus.

"We should closely monitor possible changes of the virus. We should continue to monitor the virus and see whether it mutates or not. If it mutates, we must quickly find out how it is evolving."

Meanwhile, Shu Yuelong urges researchers in China to accelerate the pace of clinical studies on A/H1NI vaccine.

"So far, we don't know how frequently or the exact dose we should give the patients, so we have to speed up clinical studies and solve these key problems."

China has started to produce the A/H1N1 vaccine and the first batch is expected to be put into use as early as the end of July. Flu experts have suggested that health authorities should first apply the vaccine to vulnerable groups rather than the whole population.

Yu Hongjie is an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

He says health authorities should focus their attention on preventing the pandemic at the community-level as confirmed H1N1 cases continue to rise.

"Health authorities should draft a detailed directive for hospitals at all levels to brace for and handle possible outbreaks of A/H1N1 pandemic at the community level."

So far, the Chinese mainland has confirmed 237 A/H1N1 flu cases, with 11 new ones reported on Tuesday alone.

Zheng Chenguang CRI news.