There is no threat for SARS outbreak in China, expert believes

Almaty. January 9. Silkroadnews - There is no threat for SARS outbreak in China, the deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention He Xiong believes, “China Daily” reports.
“Flu outbreaks are up across China compared with previous years, but the epidemic remains at normal levels and is much less severe than the SARS outbreak,” he said. “It is irrelevant to compare flu outbreaks with SARS, as the two diseases are different in many respects. Although SARS is not strongly infectious, it caused panic because it was an entirely new disease unknown to humans then, and there were no effective means of treatment for the disease.”  
With this He Xiong reminded, people have been facing with the flu for many years and its consequences are not as dangerous as the ones in case of SARS. The flu is dangerous mostly for people with chronic diseases and can worsen their condition.
The recent epidemic of the flu caused panic, some associated it with SARS, which killed more than 300 people in the mainland China in 2003.
Every year from 5% to 10% of adults and from 20% to 30% of children get the flu across the globe. Most of these cases are characterized as minor, although in more than 3 million cases the flu leads to severe health complications, including death, as data provided by the China Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization show.
According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China has entered the peak of the influenza season, and the number of outbreaks - 10 cases or more – has been significantly higher compared to the average for the past few years.
However, surveillance did not detect viral mutations that could affect the spread and severity of the disease, and the flu epidemic remains at predicted levels.
The Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission says, in Beijing, 5298 cases of flu were registered from December 18 to December 24, which is 80% higher than a week earlier.
On Tuesday, the Beijing Center for Disease Control urged parents to take precautions to prevent them and their children from becoming infected with the flu, namely, washing their hands, avoiding crowded places and adhering to a balanced diet.
The center officials also said, in addition to a healthy lifestyle, vaccination is an effective method of preventing most cases of influenza.
Influenza vaccines used in China are recommended by WHO and can prevent three strains: H1N1, H3N2 and B/Victoria, but they have a limited effect against B/Yamagata, the dominant strain in China this winter.