BEIJING -- Influenza virus is the main pathogen among the cases of respiratory diseases reported across China as monitoring results showed, said Wang Huaqing, an expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cold waves recently hit a number of regions in the country, where the temperature plummeted and respiratory diseases entered their high season, Wang told Xinhua in an interview.

Noting that vaccination is an effective, safe, convenient and economical approach to preventing infectious diseases, Wang advised vulnerable groups including the elderly, those with underlying diseases and infants to get inoculated with influenza vaccines.

As children are among the most vulnerable to respiratory diseases, Wang Quan, an expert with Beijing Children's Hospital, warned against arbitrary medication on children and stressed doing it under doctors' or pharmacists' guidance, given that children's internal organs are not fully grown.

For the elderly who show respiratory disease symptoms, Li Yanming, head of the respiratory and critical care medicine department at the Beijing Hospital, told Xinhua that family members should decide whether to let the elderly stay at home or take them to the hospital based on the patient's age, underlying diseases and severity of symptoms.