China: 30% of people infected with H7N9 have died

A Chinese official, Chung Nam Son, confirmed that China now has 340 cases of H7N9 infection and a death rate of up to 30%.

Mr. Chung Nam Son, now a member of the China Institute of Engineering, and the Director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease Research and Chairman of the National Key Laboratory for Chinese Respiratory Diseases.

Particularly in Guangdong province, the number of people infected with H7N9 is 84, of which 23 have died, accounting for 28%.

Chicken and geese are free at a family in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China.(Photo: AFP / VNA)

The above statement was made by Mr. Chung Nam Son on March 10 when he interviewed the press during the second session of the 12th National People's Congress.

Mr. Chung Nam Son stated that the H7N9 influenza virus gene changes from person to person, like SARS, so if infected, people must be detected early, isolated early and treated early.

Dr. Chung Nam Son said the characteristics of the H7N9 flu are dispersal, which means that there is currently no human-to-human transmission.

There is no clear path of infection of this influenza virus, considering the data on epidemics, over 80% of cases are transmitted from poultry markets. The most important thing is to control the poultry market and China is deploying to control the epidemic in this direction.

China has produced a number of vaccines and will most likely be used for people at high risk of infection, and the vaccine strain has also been prepared, if there is an infectious condition that will produce large scale production.