Hong Kong heading for small-scale flu outbreak, health adviser warns, as fourth unvaccinated child dies
- Professor David Hui urges parents to ensure children are vaccinated, saying those who have died relatively young and have weak resistance
- Family doctor says he has seen more cases in past three weeks, but it is less than in Hong Kong’s peak flu season
Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, on Saturday predicted it would not take long for the proportion of respiratory specimens handled by public laboratories that tested positive for flu to increase from 8.6 per cent to 9.2 per cent, which indicated an epidemic.
“I believe it will only take a short period of time … and then there will be a small outbreak,” he told a radio programme, noting that the four children who died after contracting the flu this year were unvaccinated.
“They were relatively young and had weak resistance. Once they were exposed to the influenza virus, it became very serious, often with necrotising encephalitis.”
The latest fatal case involved a two-year-old boy who tested positive for influenza A and died on July 28.
The Centre for Health Protection under the Department of Health said the child had a fever and cough before suffering convulsions and was admitted to hospital. He was diagnosed with acute necrotising encephalopathy complicated by respiratory failure.
According to statistics published on Thursday, 8.64 per cent of respiratory specimens handled by public laboratories tested positive for flu, higher than 8.57 per cent recorded the week before, but below the baseline threshold level of 9.2 per cent.
On Saturday, family doctor Edmund Lam Wing-wo told the Post he had seen an uptick in cases in the past three weeks, but fewer than during a similar time span during the flu season in April and May.
He urged residents, particularly the unvaccinated, to practise good personal hygiene, get tested if they developed symptoms such as a fever and coughing, and consult a doctor.
Hong Kong flu season ends as patient numbers drop, while rise of Covid cases slows
The most vulnerable, such as the very young and very old, should especially get their flu shots, he said.
Hong Kong has two flu seasons, one beginning in April and the second starting in August.
“We are worried that after mid-August when kindergartens resume class and then primary schools in September, if the influenza activity is still high, then it may persist and affect those [children], particularly who are unvaccinated,” Hui said.
Wearing a mask was a personal choice, and residents had to balance going about their daily lives with preventing infection, he said. But for those who chose not to wear the face coverings, they could still avoid joining social gatherings when ill and ensure they washed their hands before eating, he advised.
Hong Kong’s flu season peaked faster than expected: health adviser
“Third-generation vaccines are under research and development … The vaccines produced good antibodies,” he said, adding the new jabs targeting the XBB subvariant could reduce infection risks.
But high-risk groups, including the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, should receive booster shots and not wait for the third-generation vaccine, Hui suggested.
Additional reporting by Fiona Sun
