Vigilance called for as peak flu season starts
China DailyBy WANG XIAOYU| China Daily| Updated :2023-11-15 Health commission stresses improved monitoring as respiratory illnesses spread China is seeing the circulation of multiple infectious respiratory illnesses this winter, with surging cases of mycoplasma pneumonia, rising cases of influenza flu, but a downward trend in COVID-19 cases in recent days, health authorities and experts said on Monday. Mi Feng, spokesman of the National Health Commission, said during a news conference that as winter approaches, China has entered the peak season for respiratory illnesses, and different viruses or pathogens are circulating simultaneously. Tong Zhaohui, vice-president of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University and head of the Beijing respiratory disease research institute, said that regional epidemics of mycoplasma pneumoniae infections emerge every three to seven years. Wang Dayan, director of the China National Influenza Center administered by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that flu activities across the nation have been rising, with H3N2 the dominant strain.