Coronavirus Hong Kong: parents warned about rise of other respiratory illnesses despite Covid wave peaking
- HKU experts sound alert on flu, RSV and pneumococcal infections, with children and elderly most at risk
- Infectious diseases outbreak has persisted beyond usual influenza season as children’s immunity to various viruses low due to years of mask-wearing
Hong Kong health experts on Saturday warned that the Covid-19 wave might have peaked but parents should still be aware of rising cases of respiratory diseases following the lifting of the mask mandate.
Paediatrics Professor Lau Yu-lung from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) told a radio programme that the city’s Covid-19 caseload should have plateaued, but he was unsure how long the period would last.
“In terms of preventing deaths and severe cases, Hong Kong is among the top in the world, so we can all be reassured. However, these small waves will appear repeatedly as this is the nature of coronaviruses,” Lau said, adding that later infections were likely to be milder and the city’s vaccination rates were satisfactory.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau last Friday said the government had estimated up to 10,000 residents were infected with the coronavirus daily, but reassured the public that the outbreak remained manageable amid high vaccination rates and milder cases. Hong Kong dropped its mask mandate in March after nearly three years.
However, Lau and fellow HKU paediatrician Mike Kwan Yat-wah warned about the rise of other infectious diseases, such as flu, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pneumococcal infections.
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Lau explained that this year’s infectious diseases outbreak had persisted beyond the usual influenza season, as children had not been exposed to various viruses and pathogens from wearing masks over the past three years.
He warned parents to observe signs of other illnesses besides influenza if their children experienced fever relapses in the second week of infection.
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Children under five and the elderly aged over 60 were the most susceptible to invasive pneumococcal disease, Lau said.
Health authorities announced on Thursday that the city’s seven-week influenza season had come to an end, but appealed to people to remain vigilant.
Kwan, an honorary paediatrics clinical associate professor at HKU, said that RSV infection would be more serious than influenza, as a patient’s air tubes in the lungs could be blocked by cells sticking together as a result of viral attacks.
Kwan added that the current pneumococcal vaccine was not effective against serotype three pneumococcal disease, which comprised up to 90 per cent of the city’s infections.
The Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases would consider importing the 15-valent or 20-valent vaccine into the city to tackle the spread soon, he said.
Kwan also cautioned that Covid-19 reinfections could be more serious in children, if they had not been sufficiently vaccinated after a first infection.
Currently, only 30 per cent of children aged three or below have been inoculated against Covid-19.
“Those who got jabbed after their first infection may just have a fever [when reinfected] and recover by themselves, but those who didn’t get any jabs and get reinfected might end up with serious symptoms,” Kwan warned, citing patients he had treated.
Official figures show 14 deaths related to the coronavirus were recorded on Friday. Since isolation orders were dropped on January 30, authorities have recorded 451 Covid-linked fatalities.
