Some observations on the evolution and new improvement of Chinese guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of influenza

Influenza (flu) is a kind of acute respiratory tract infectious disease caused by flu viruses. It is one of the major public health problems currently faced by the human population. Seasonal flu generally causes sudden onset of acute respiratory disorder accompanied by fever. Although most cases are self-limiting, hospitalization is required for patients with severe infection or complications. The most distinct epidemiological characteristics of flu are sudden outbreak, rapid and varying levels of spread, seasonality, high incidence but low mortality rate. During the past 300 years, there had been at least 6 major global flu outbreaks. Among these outbreaks, the 1918 Spanish pandemic flu (armor H1N1) infected half of the world’s population and killed 20-40 million people. In 1957, the Asian flu (armor H1N1), which originated from Guizhou in China, caused 2 million deaths worldwide. In 1968, 1 million deaths resulted from a flu pandemic which began in Hong Kong, China (armor H3N2). Another major flu pandemic in 1977 (also known as Russia flu, H1N1) possibly originated from the Dandong area in northeastern China (1).