Peak season for respiratory illnesses continues

The spread of respiratory pathogens this winter has been less intense compared to the last peak season, but various infectious illnesses are expected to continue circulating simultaneously through to the upcoming spring, an official from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.

Kan Biao, head of the China CDC's National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, said during a news conference that infections with influenza flu, rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus and mycoplasma pneumonia are now the most common among hospital visits.

The positivity rate of flu infections is expected to continue rising while the rates of rhinovirus infections and cases with mycoplasma pneumonia infections that usually affect children aged five to 14 are both trending downward.

However, the positivity rate of respiratory syntactical virus among toddlers aged four and under is rising, so is the rate of human metapneumovirus among children aged 14 and under.

Kan added that the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses is now at a low level.

Regarding the transmission of norovirus — a stomach infection that can cause vomiting and diarrhea — he said that infection clusters have been rising since September.

The disease's spread is at its peak season and will maintain at a high level for two more months, he said.