Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 11, Title: Disease control experts predict that the level of influenza activity will decline in mid-to-late January

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gu Tiancheng

Winter is a high-incidence period for respiratory infectious diseases, and common pathogens include influenza virus, human metapneumovirus and respiratory syncytial virus.

What is the current epidemic situation of respiratory infectious diseases in my country? How to effectively deal with influenza and human metapneumovirus? The Spring Festival is approaching, how to take good health protection during the journey? The National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention organized disease control and medical experts to be interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporters and gave professional answers.

——The medical burden this winter and spring is lower than last year, and the level of influenza activity is expected to decline in mid-to-late January.

"Monitoring data shows that influenza is still in a seasonal epidemic recently, and the positive rate of influenza viruses has slowed down. It is expected that the level of influenza activity may gradually decline in mid-to-late January." said Wang Liping, a researcher at the Infectious Diseases Department of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts introduced that due to climate and other reasons, the levels of influenza activity vary between provinces. Except for some southern provinces in the early stages of epidemics, the epidemic intensity in most provinces is at a moderate level; the positivity rate of human metapneumovirus has slowed down in northern provinces, and the positivity rate among cases aged 14 and under begins to decline; the positivity rate of respiratory syncytial virus shows a fluctuating and upward trend in the age group of 0 to 4 years old.

Wang Liping said that it is expected that this winter and spring will still show an alternating or superimposed epidemic trend of multiple respiratory infectious diseases, but the overall epidemic intensity and medical load are lower than last year.

——Human metapneumovirus is a common virus and is not a dominant pathogen at present.

Some netizens are not familiar with human pneumovirus and are "seeking" popular science on the Internet. In response, Huang Fang, deputy director of the Immunization Prevention Institute of Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that human metapneumovirus is a common virus that causes acute respiratory infections. It was discovered by Dutch scientists in 2001, but studies have shown that it has existed in humans for more than 60 years and is not a new strain.

"Human metapneumovirus often experiences respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, nasal congestion, runny nose after infection. It is a self-limiting disease, and most symptoms can disappear on their own. It is concentrated in my country from December to April of the following year." Huang Fang said that the national test positive rate of the virus in the first week of 2025 was 6.2%, which is lower than influenza and is not the dominant pathogen of respiratory infectious diseases in my country at present.

It is reported that the disease control department continues to strengthen monitoring and early warning work. While doing a good job in direct reporting of statutory infectious disease networks, it further expands monitoring channels. It has selected 1,041 acute respiratory infectious disease sentinel monitoring hospitals across the country, and released relevant health tips and popular science knowledge to the public frequently based on the monitoring results.

—"Preventive" influenza drugs are not recommended, and influenza vaccines are still encouraged.

"Influenza is a relatively common disease. It is recommended that the public try to prevent it by getting influenza vaccines and strengthening personal protection. For healthy adults and children, 'preventive' medication is not recommended." Zhang Hong, chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said.

What should I do if I have flu symptoms? Zhang Hong suggested that if healthy people experience symptoms such as low fever and runny nose, they can observe first, rest well at home, and treat them symptomatically; if they have high fever, headaches, and obvious limb soreness, it is recommended to go to the fever clinic for treatment, or choose viral testing reagents. If it is confirmed that it is positive for influenza A, anti-influenza A drugs, such as oseltamivir or mabaloxavir, can be selected under the guidance of a doctor; infants, elderly people, or patients with serious underlying diseases need to be tested or treated as soon as possible.

Experts suggest that many people may experience abdominal pain, increased bowel movements and even diarrhea after taking antiviral and cold medicine. These may be related to anti-allergic ingredients of the drug, so there is no need to worry too much.

Some netizens are concerned about whether it is still suitable for vaccination if they have not had time to get vaccinated before. Wang Liping said that it is still possible to get the flu vaccine. As long as you are still in an active period of influenza virus transmission, vaccination can help reduce the risk of infection.

—The flow of people during the Spring Festival increases, check this health protection tip.

The 2025 Spring Festival travel rush has started, and the number of people's mobility and gathering activities has increased. Wang Liping suggested that we can start from three aspects: pre-trip preparation, during-trip protection, and post-trip hygiene, and take good health protection for respiratory infectious diseases. Health tips include:

Before traveling, you should understand the epidemic situation at the destination in advance; prepare masks, disinfectant wipes, and hand-washing disinfectant; overseas travelers need to make personal health declarations; it is recommended that the elderly, chronic patients and others actively receive COVID-19, flu, and pneumococcal vaccines; if there are symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, etc., it is recommended to rest at home and postpone travel.

Wear masks scientifically when taking public transportation or going to confined and crowded places; elderly people and patients with severe chronic diseases should try to minimize going to indoor public places with crowded places; avoid touching their mouth, nose and eyes with their hands, washing their hands with logistics contact with public facilities or wiping their hands with disinfectant tissues.

After arriving at the destination on the trip, change clothes, wash hands and face in time; when symptoms of respiratory infection occur, rest at home and avoid participating in group activities; when symptoms are severe, seek medical treatment in time and wear masks; when travelers who leave the country experience symptoms such as fever and rash after returning to China, seek medical treatment in time and inform the overseas travel history to help doctors make accurate diagnosis.