Authorities urge greater vigilance against flu after Hong Kong records ‘slight’ influenza uptick, which experts call ‘rapid’ but ‘expected’
- Centre for Health Protection reports nine cases of severe influenza infections in March so far, compared with total of five in first two months of year
- Infectious disease expert Ivan Hung from University of Hong Kong urges flu shots for children, but maintains rise in cases ‘expected’ and ‘likely short-lived’
According to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), nine cases of severe influenza infections have been recorded in March as of Wednesday, compared with a total of five in January and February.
Rates of patients in the city’s public hospitals admitted with a principal diagnosis of influenza have also slightly increased from 0.01 cases per 10,000 people in the first week of March to 0.07 last week. This was particularly the case for residents aged less than 12 years and those aged 50 years or above, it added.
“Our surveillance data indicated that the local seasonal influenza activity has slightly increased recently,” a CHP spokesman said on Thursday.
Health authorities explained that immunity against influenza in the city might be “relatively weaker” compared with previous years, as the infections had been at low levels over the past three years.
The CHP said it had been closely monitoring the local flu situation. Its laboratory, and those of the Hospital Authority, recorded a slight increase in the weekly percentage of seasonal influenza virus detection.