[An overview on the history of global influenza pandemics].

During the past 100 years, there had been four global pandemics on influenza that had greatly influenced the health and life of the people. This article summarized the features, experiences and lessons learned on these four influenza pandemics so as to prepare related measures targeting the possible pandemics/epidemics in the foreseeable future, in China.

[A review on the preparedness plans on influenza pandemics, by WHO and China: the current status and development].

Every influenza pandemic in history would end up with disastrous outcomes on mankind, of which the most notorious one was the "Spanish flu" pandemic in 1918. In the past century, with advanced knowledge on influenza viruses, laboratory technologies and surveillance methods, human beings were not as helpless when facing the influenza pandemic. In order to control the outbreaks and reducing the negative impacts, programs as: setting up and improving the influenza pandemic preparedness and response plan were recognized as important issues on early detection or prompt warning of any influenza virus strain that might lead to potential pandemics. The scheduled and planned control measures towards the pandemic preparedness and response plan had been considered of key importance in mitigating the peak of pandemic or controlling the transmission of virus. Since the "1918 influenza pandemic" , we had reviewed the evolution and development of plans regarding the preparedness and response on influenza pandemic issued by both WHO and China. We also emphasized on the variety of strategies which were linked to the preparedness and response at different historical stages, to provide reference for the pandemic preparedness of the disease, in the future.

[Epidemiology of imported infectious diseases in China, 2013-2016].

Objective: To describe the epidemic of imported infectious diseases in China between 2013 and 2016, including the kinds of infectious diseases, affected provinces, source countries and the epidemiological characteristics, and provide scientific information for the prevention and control of imported infectious diseases. Methods: Data of cases of imported infectious diseases in China from 2013 to 2016 were collected from national information reporting system of infectious diseases, Microsoft Excel 2010 and SPSS 18.0 were used to conduct data cleaning and analysis. Results: From 2013 to 2016, a total of 16 206 imported cases of infectious diseases were reported in China. Of all the cases, 83.12% (13 471 cases) were malaria cases, followed by dengue fever (2 628 cases, 16.22%). The majority of the imported cases were males (14 522 cases, 89.61%). Most cases were aged 20-50 years. Except Zika virus disease and yellow fever, which were mainly reported before and after spring festival, other imported infectious diseases mainly occurred in summer and autumn. The epidemic in affected provinces varied with the types of infectious diseases, and Yunnan reported the largest case number of imported infectious diseases, followed by Jiangsu, Guangxi and Guangdong. The imported cases were mainly from Asian countries, such as Burma, and African countries, such as Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana, which also varied with the types of infectious diseases. Conclusions: We should pay more attention to imported infectious diseases and strengthen the prevention and control measures in our country. In order to reduce the incidence of imported infectious diseases, the health education should be enforced for persons who plan to travel abroad and the active surveillance should be strengthened for returned travelers.