A technician holds test reagents for H7N9 bird flu virus at the Beijing Center for Diseases Control and Prevention in Beijing on April 3^rd, 2013. (Photo: Xinhua/Li Wen)

(VOVworld) – A low vaccination rate and multiple active virus strains have led to a more serious flu situation in China this winter, a disease control expert warned on Thursday.
Feng Zijian, Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that compared to previous years the current virus is much more active, especially in south China. He said health departments have detected three major strains of flu virus H1, H3, and Influenza B.
Feng said that in the past usually a single strain prevailed, but this winter three strains are active, adding difficulty to both prevention and treatment. Since the beginning of this year, China has reported more than 40 cases of human H7N9 avian influenza infection, three of them died.