Beijing flu on the back foot: experts

The number of people suffering from flu and colds will drop next week as the peak period for flu in Beijing draws to an end, experts said on Thursday.

"Beijing has been overwhelmed with flu and colds for the past three weeks but in theory the number of patients should drop in a week from now," experts with the Beijing municipal disease control center told Xinhua.

Beijing has seen a sharp rise in the flu patients since the New Year. Local hospitals are dealing with more than 4,700 patients with symptoms of flu each day, 58 percent being children under 15 and five percent senior citizens above 60 years of age.

Beijing municipal health authorities have called for close monitoring of people suffering from respiratory infectious diseases.

The number of flu patients in hospitals has been rising since December. The situation in north China, including Beijing and Tianjin, is more serious than in the south, said Mao Qunan, a ministry spokesman.

Mao said that China has entered the annual peak period for flu, but chances of a large-scale flu outbreak in the near future are low.

Source: Xinhua