Published Date: 2010-01-05 13:00:04
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Influenza pandemic (H1N1) (01): China, 2009
Archive Number: 20100105.0040

INFLUENZA PANDEMIC (H1N1) (01): CHINA, 2009
*******************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Mon 4 Jan 2010
Source: Yahoo News, Agence France-Presse report [edited]
<http://health.yahoo.com/news/afp/healthfluchina_20100104101501.html>


China records 659 swine flu deaths in 2009
------------------------------------------
China said Monday [4 Jan 2010] it had recorded 659 swine flu
[influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus infection] deaths in 2009,
nearly all of them in the last 2 months of the year, and warned that
the danger of mass outbreaks still existed in certain areas.

The health ministry said the total number of A(H1N1) [2009 virus]
infections recorded since the virus was 1st detected last year stood
at 120 940. At the end of October [2009], the reported death toll
stood at just 6. The number of recorded deaths then spiked, reaching
about 180 at the start of December [2009] and 659 by the end of that month.

"The danger of an explosion of outbreaks in some places exists, and
the number of fatalities and serious cases will remain at a rather
high level," said Liang Wannian, director of the ministry's emergency
response office. Serious difficulties remained in containing the
spread of the virus in rural areas and at schools, Liang told a press
conference.

Ministry officials had already warned of a "grim" winter flu outlook,
and are urging caution ahead of the February [2010] Lunar New Year
holidays, when hundreds of millions of people swamp roads and
railways to visit family.

In November [2009], renowned medical whistle-blower Zhong Nanshan,
who helped expose the scale of the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome [SARS], said the true A(H1N1) death count was
being covered up. The government responded by ordering more accurate
case reporting by officials.

China has so far vaccinated 49.9 million people, Liang said -- the
largest campaign in the world, but still only a small proportion of
the country's 1.3 billion people.

Chinese laboratories were at the forefront of worldwide efforts to
develop and mass-produce a swine flu vaccine, but the quick clinical
trials and production cycle led to concerns that the shot was perhaps
unsafe. Liang said China's vaccine was not linked to the deaths last
month of 2 people following their inoculations. "Following
confirmation, the deaths... had nothing to do with the inoculations,"
Liang said, without giving the causes of death or any details about
the 2 deceased. Officials have said that adverse reactions were only
reported in a handful of cases -- about one out of a million jabs.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[The apparent delayed spread of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus in
China may in part be due to bureaucratic delay in diagnosis and
reporting of cases. If a real phenomenon the Lunar New Year holiday
on 13-16 Feb 2010 may be a critical period for health care services in China.

The HealthMap//ProMED-mail interactive map of China can be accessed at:
<http://healthmap.org/r/008e>. - Mod.CP]

See Also

2009
----
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (138): WHO update 20091231.4404
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (137): Canada, North Korea 20091231.4403
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (136): Argentina, pediatric
mortality 20091227.4359
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (135): Brazil, autopsies 20091223.4325
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (134): comments 20091223.4321
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (133): WHO 20091222.4313
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (132): Tamiflu efficacy 20091216.4257
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (131): Middle East 20091215.4255
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (130): indigenous peoples 20091214.4246
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (120): Canada, Haiti, Italy, USA 20091203.4127
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (110): UK (Wales), Tamiflu
resistance 20091120.4000
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (100): Ukraine (DT) 20091114.3940
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (90): Venezuela, Yanomami 20091105.3820
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (80): Ukraine susp. RFI 20091031.3764
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (70): Nepal 20091016.3563
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (60): bacterial coinfection 20090930.3410
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (50): oseltamivir-resistance 20090917.3260
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (40): global update 20090906.3138
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (30): assumptions 20090813.2879
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (20): Peru, 33 percent
asymptomatic 20090730.2668
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (10): vaccine 20090720.2577
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - Viet Nam: patient data 20090708.2450
........................cp/ejp/dk

*##########################################################*
************************************************************
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Become a ProMED-mail Premium Subscriber at
<http://www.isid.org/ProMEDMail_Premium.shtml>
************************************************************
Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org>.
Send all items for posting to: promed@promedmail.org

(NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your
full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send
commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help,
etc. to: majordomo@promedmail.org. For assistance from a
human being send mail to: owner-promed@promedmail.org.

############################################################
############################################################