A senior Chinese epidemiological expert suggested that people do not need to be panic when a new flu hit a large part of the world, but should meanwhile pay more attention to their health.

"What a common person needs to do now is what he usually does to protect himself from a normal flu," said Professor Huang Jianshi from the Peking Union Medical College, according to Saturday's China Youth Daily. "The key word is to stay healthy."

Many factors affect a person's health, such as life style, natural and social environment. Medical service only plays a small part, he said.

China confirmed its first influenza A/H1N1 case in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Friday but the mainland has reported no case.

Health Minister Chen Zhu had warned against the possible spread of the new flu and the said the ministry had raised the level of prevention.

China has done a lot of work to prepare itself for a nationwide health accident since the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Huang said.

"The country has already developed one of the world's largest and fastest epidemic monitoring and reporting network," he said. "Facilities are in place and more medical workers are trained in this field."

Huang believed the country would be more prepared if a nationwide epidemic like SARS broke out in China.

But he also pointed out that training of grass-roots medical workers still needed improving.

"There will always be infectious diseases. People need to learn how to protect themselves and well manage their health," Huang said. "In China, chronic diseases are much more harmful than infectious diseases."

He quoted the Health Ministry as saying that China has 260 million patients of chronic diseases.

"With today's medical technologies, we can prevent and control an epidemic. It breaks out quickly and can be ended quickly," he said. "But with an increasing incidence of chronic diseases, the country's vigor will be harmed and the medical system will be overloaded."

(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2009)