China News Service, Beijing, December 20th (Wei Xianghui) In response to issues of public concern such as strengthening immunization and virus characteristics, on the 20th, at a press conference held by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, relevant experts answered and introduced medical treatment for key groups. Service related situation.
The picture shows citizens posting information outside the fever clinic booth.
Photo by Gao Cheng
Is vaccination "inferior" to an Omicron infection?
Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the immunization program of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, responded that a number of studies have shown that compared with those who have completed the full course of or boosted immunization against the new coronavirus vaccine, the risk of hospitalization, severe illness and death for people who have not been vaccinated is relatively large. It also includes young people and adults.
To the extent that this risk exists to some extent, it can be reduced through vaccination.
He suggested that those who have not been vaccinated should still be vaccinated, and those who have not completed the booster vaccination should complete the booster vaccination as soon as possible, so that this risk can be reduced to a relatively low level, whether it is the elderly, adults or young people .
Wang Huaqing said that at present, the immune protection produced by simple infection is not as strong as the mixed immunity produced by infection plus vaccination.
According to the current technical guidelines for vaccination against the new coronavirus, if a person is diagnosed with the new coronavirus, the time of infection and the time of vaccination against the new coronavirus should be separated by more than 6 months.
Subsequent immunization strategies will be continuously improved and adjusted with the understanding of the disease, the understanding of the vaccine, and the need for disease control.
The picture shows people being vaccinated with the "fourth shot" of the new crown vaccine.
Photo by Zhou Lishuo
The pathogenicity of BQ.1 and XBB is not significantly different from other variants of Omicron
Xu Wenbo, director of the Institute of Viral Diseases of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that BQ.1 and XBB are new variant branches of Omicron.
Internationally, some European and American countries have gradually shown that they are dominant strains, mainly manifested in increased transmissibility and immune escape ability.
However, its virulence is not significantly different from other series of variant strains of Omicron, and the severe disease rate and mortality rate have not increased significantly in these countries where BQ.1 and XBB are prevalent.
In the past three months, BF.7, BQ.1, and XBB have been monitored and imported into my country. A total of more than 130 subclades of Omicron have been imported into my country. At the same time, these 50 subclades have caused related local cases or Outbreaks, including BQ.1 and XBB.
Among them, BQ.1 and its subclade were detected in 49 cases in 9 provinces, and XBB subclade was detected in 11 cases in 3 provinces.
The entire BQ.1 and XBB have not yet formed an advantageous communication in my country (currently BA.5.2 and BF.7 are the main ones), but their communication advantages will gradually increase, and BA.5.2 and BF.7, as well as more than 50 other inputs sub-branches may form a co-circulation.
Xu Wenbo said that the prevention of BQ.1 and XBB is actually the same as other Omicron mutant strains. The measures to be taken are to monitor whether there is any change in its pathogenicity and whether there are further mutations in its genome. If its clinical characteristics have For any changes, we will correlate with the genomic characteristics for research and judgment, but there are no reports of BQ.1 and XBB causing severe illness and increased death at home and abroad.
Workers pack medicines in a packaging workshop.
Photo by Yang Huafeng
Underlying disease is still the main cause of death after infection with Omicron strain
Wang Guiqiang, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Peking University First Hospital, said that with the significant decline in the pathogenicity rate of the Omicron strain, vaccination has been widely popularized in China. Now the Omicron strain mainly invades the upper respiratory tract, while the lower respiratory tract The proportion of pneumonia is relatively low, and there are some cases of pneumonia, but it is rare to cause respiratory failure. This can also be seen from clinical practice. At present, the main cause of death after infection with the Omicron strain is the underlying disease.
He said that very few elderly people actually die directly from respiratory failure caused by the new coronavirus infection.
In order to reflect the death situation caused by the new crown epidemic scientifically and realistically, the Health and Medical Commission recently organized experts to conduct demonstrations and issued a notice to clearly judge the relevant death cases.
There are mainly two aspects here. Deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure caused by the new coronavirus are classified as deaths caused by the new coronavirus infection.
Deaths caused by other diseases and basic diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, myocardial infarction, etc., are not classified as deaths caused by the new crown.
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