The virus targeted by the flu vaccines supplied for this season do not match the dominant virus that is circulating, reducing their efficacy, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
According to the CDC’s weekly data, 97,003 cases of flu-like illnesses were reported last week, an increase of 24 percent from the week before, indicating that the nation is experiencing the peak of this flu season.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said that 22 people were confirmed to have serious flu complications, 18 of whom did not receive vaccinations.
Photo: CNA
“The dominant circulating virus is the influenza B virus,” she said, adding that 21 clustered cases were reported in the past four weeks, 16 of which (76 percent) were on school campuses.
The dominant circulating virus is of the Yamagata lineage, but the WHO-recommended composition of trivalent vaccines for use in the northern hemisphere’s flu season was two influenza A viruses (H1N1 and H3N2) and an influenza B virus of the Victoria lineage, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
“The effectiveness of the vaccine can reach 60 to 70 percent if the predicted influenza B lineage matches the dominant circulating virus,” he said.
“Although the virus was predicted incorrectly, the vaccine can still offer cross-protection against the Yamagata lineage and has a protective efficacy of about 30 to 50 percent, which still reduces the risk of serious complications and death,” Chuang added.
Getting vaccinated still provides protection against infection and maintaining good personal hygiene by washing hands frequently, wearing a mask in crowded places and seeing a doctor when symptoms arise can also enhance protection, he said.
The CDC said the latest WHO report showed that the dominant circulating viruses are influenza A subtype H3N2 in the US and Canada, influenza A subtype H1N1 in Japan and influenza B in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and Europe, adding that people who are planning to travel overseas should take proper pre-emptive measures.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS