Seasonal Flu Set to Hit Peak Between Late December And Early January

Credit: Dong Jun

Caption: Fudan University's Children's Hospital is crowded with children suffering from flu.

Shanghai entered its flu season in early and mid-November this year. The epidemic tendency is now at a high level and is still on a rising curve. It will reach the peak between late this month and early next month, officials from the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

Compared with last year, this year's flu season began two weeks earlier.

"The main strain last year was influenza A H1N1. Now the dominant strain is H3N2, which took hold in September," said Wu Huanyu, vice director of the Shanghai CDC, which closely monitors the flu situation.

Local health authorities have done proper preparation to deal with the rising number of flu patients.

Credit: Dong Jun / Shanghai Daily

Caption: A child undergoes a virus test at Fudan University's Children's Hospital.

"The number of patients at emergency departments and fever clinics of local public hospitals is rising, especially pediatric patients have reached the peak number of last year," said Zhao Quanquan from the Shanghai Health Commission.

"We have stepped up medical efforts, requiring all district- and city-level hospitals to open fever clinics and be prepared for critical cases. Hospitals have arranged more medical staff and medical resources, opened more clinics, prolonged service time and expanded the infusion area to reduce patients' waiting time."

Hospitals are also required to streamline their process to improve efficiency and better categorize patients as well as enhancing Internet hospital service to offer online consultation. Clinics only offering drug prescription have also been launched for the convenience of patients.

During the flu season, local community health centers' fever clinics will be open from Monday to Sunday to provide convenient and accessible service for local residents, officials said.

The key for flu prevention and control is vaccination, good health hygiene like wearing masks, washing hands and ventilation. Key groups like children, elderly, people with underlying disease and at risk of vocational exposure should take extra precautions, according to doctors.