Flu positive rates in China are concerning, increasing 13 times in a month

Despite the return of warmer weather, China continues to report an increase in influenza virus incidence throughout the nation, with one in two patients evaluated in hospitals who had cold symptoms testing positive for the disease.

According to the most recent statistics, influenza positive rates at hospitals that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention monitors increased to 53.2% in the week ending March 12; this is an increase of approximately 13 times over a month earlier. Contrarily, Covid-19 positive rates are still subdued at 2.7%, and as of March 16 there had been no coronavirus-related fatalities recorded in the nation for three weeks.

Despite the low incidence of Covid infections, current genomic analysis indicates that additional subvariants, such as BQ. 1 and XBB, are developing in China. Earlier omicron sub-lineages BA.5 and BF. 7 were mostly responsible for the explosive epidemic that expanded following Beijing's December pivot from Covid Zero and infected 80% of the nation's 1.4 billion people.

The antiviral medication oseltamivir is in high demand due to the present flu epidemic. In China's well-known online marketplaces, the treatment's average daily sales increased by more than 100 times in March compared to the same month last year. In certain areas of the nation, hospitals and pharmacies are experiencing brief shortages as a result of the rapid increase in demand.