世卫组织官员说，今年接种流感疫苗尤为重要

世卫组织官员说，今年接种流感疫苗尤为重要

Getting the flu vaccine this year is important, experts at the World Health Organization said during a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

世界卫生组织的专家周二在日内瓦的新闻发布会上说，今年接种流感疫苗非常重要。

It appears that the circulation of flu in the Southern Hemisphere -- which includes Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Zimbabwe -- is low. However, making assessments of what will happen in the Northern Hemisphere -- which includes North America, Europe and much of Asia -- needs to be done carefully.

目前看来，流感在南半球(包括澳大利亚、新西兰、阿根廷、智利、南非和津巴布韦)的传播率很低。然而，对北半球(包括北美、欧洲和亚洲大部分地区)将发生的情况进行评估需要谨慎行事。

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, explained that the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System is being used in countries for both flu and Covid-19. This system collects samples from across the globe from people who have flu-like or severe respiratory illnesses to test for viruses like flu.

世卫组织新冠肺炎技术负责人玛丽亚·万科霍解释说，各国正在使用全球流感监测和应对系统应对流感和新冠肺炎。该系统从全球范围内患有类似流感或严重呼吸道疾病的人群中收集样本，以检测流感等病毒。

Many countries are continuing to test for flu, and in the last two-week reporting period for this system, there were almost 300,000 flu specimens tested. Only 37 came back positive for the virus, "so it seems like flu circulation is low."

许多国家仍在继续进行流感检测，在过去两周的报告期内，该系统共检测了近30万份流感样本。只有37人被检测出病毒呈阳性，“所以看起来流感的传播率很低。”

This could be for a number of reasons, Van Kerkhove said.

万科霍说，这可能有很多原因。

In the Southern Hemisphere where it is flu season, many of the public health measures put in place to protect against Covid-19 could be playing a role in reducing flu circulation.

在正处于流感季节的南半球，为预防Covid-19而采取的许多公共卫生措施可能在减少流感传播方面发挥作用。

"I think we need to be careful about making an assessment of what may happen in the Northern Hemisphere for a number of reasons," Van Kerkhove said.

万科霍说:“我认为，出于许多原因，我们在评估北半球可能发生的情况时需要谨慎。”

First and foremost, she said, the systems put in place across the globe must continue to test for both Covid-19 and flu. It is also important that people get vaccinated for the flu when the vaccine becomes available.

她说，首先也是最重要的是，全球各地建立的系统必须继续对Covid-19和流感进行测试。当疫苗可用时，人们接种流感疫苗也很重要。

Because it could be difficult to immediately distinguish between a Covid-19 infection or a flu infection, testing will be needed.

由于很难立即区分Covid-19感染和流感感染，因此需要进行检测。

"It could complicate the clinical picture, but there are tools that are in place for influenza," said Van Kerkhove. "So it is really, really important than when the vaccine becomes available for flu, that people do take that vaccine."

万科霍说:“这可能使临床情况复杂化，但是对于流感有现成的工具。”“所以，当流感疫苗有了可用的时候，人们就应该接种疫苗，这是非常非常重要的。”

There are an estimated 1 billion flu cases annually around the world, of which 3 to 5 million are severe cases, resulting up to 650,000 flu-related respiratory deaths, according to WHO's Global Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030.

根据世界卫生组织的《2019-2030年全球流感战略》，全球每年估计有10亿流感病例，其中300万至500万为重症病例，导致65万与流感相关的呼吸系统死亡。

Influenza is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States annually. From October 2019 to April 4, 2020, the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control estimates there were as many as 56 million flu illnesses, 740,000 hospitalizations and up to 62,000 deaths from the flu.

流感是美国每年十大致死原因之一。美国疾病预防和控制中心估计，从2019年10月到2020年4月4日，有多达5600万人患流感，74万人住院，多达6.2万人死于流感。

Getting a flu shot this year "will save lives," Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC's director, said in June.

美国疾病控制和预防中心主任罗伯特·雷德菲尔德博士在6月说，今年接种流感疫苗“将拯救生命”。

Covid-19 hit the Northern Hemisphere as many places were coming out of flu season, according to Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser at WHO.

世卫组织高级顾问布鲁斯·艾尔沃德说，在许多地方刚刚度过流感季节之际，新冠病毒袭击了北半球。

That includes children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends thateveryone 6 months and older be vaccinated this year.

根据美国儿科学会的说法，这其中包括儿童，该学会建议6个月及以上的人今年都要接种疫苗。