Influenza Photo: VCG

Some schools in South China's Guangdong Province suspended classes, while pediatric outpatient units at hospitals have increased manpower in response to the increased prevalence of influenza dominated by H1N1.

"Schools, nursery institutes and nursing homes are key places for tracing influenza cases. Some schools have suspended their classes for four days in accordance with health monitoring as a response," the Zhuhai Center for Disease Control and Prevention said. 

A number of parents from Guangdong said they have seen a rising number of students take sick leave recently, while schools keep releasing health reminders about the virus through social media platforms.

The health bureau of Macao Special Administrative Region on Monday also reported 28 case clusters of influenza with 577 students getting sick and seven of whom were hospitalized. 

Influenza is a seasonal epidemic, with an increased incidence in winter, spring and summer each year. Since March, hospital visits to fever clinics have been on the rise in Guangdong, meaning the province is still in a peak period for influenza, rather than there is a new high peak of influenza, according to the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Shenzhen, influenza risk has been moderating for five consecutive weeks. Influenza surveillance data from Foshan also showed that the incidence of this round of influenza began to rise gradually from the beginning of March, and has continued to increase. The proportion of influenza-like cases in outpatient departments in week 12 stood at 3.67 percent, an increase of 29.73 percent compared with the previous week. 

Pediatric outpatient and emergency care at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University peaked on Sunday, with more than 400 patients each day, four times the usual number. "We had to arrange increased manpower from other departments to support the pediatric department," Xie Lichun from the hospital told Chinese media.

The China Influenza Surveillance Weekly Report released by the National Influenza Center on March 29 showed the positive rate of influenza cases in southern provinces had slowed, while that in northern provinces continued to decline.

The damp and raining weather in Guangdong may contribute to the high number of influenza cases in the province as such weather is conducive to the spread of influenza, experts noted. 

Last summer, the predominant influenza strain in Guangdong was A (H3N2) virus, whereas the predominant influenza strain this year is A (H1N1). 

The low prevalence of H1N1 in past three years has resulted in people's low immunity against the virus, Li Shuhua from Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center explained. Relaxed mask mandate has also added the possibility of becoming infected with respiratory disease, some experts noted.