HK may experience peak flu season next month

With Hong Kong residents returning from influenza outbreak areas, experts estimate that the city will experience a peak flu season next month.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, Chairman & Stanley Ho Professor of Respiratory Medicine, stated today (Dec. 29) on a radio program that the predominant flu virus in Hong Kong is currently H1N1. If there is a shift in the main viral strain, it could extend the duration of the flu peak. However, he believes the likelihood of a major outbreak in the short term is relatively low.

He pointed out that the positive rate of respiratory samples for influenza has been rising recently, and that there has also been an increase in patients with flu symptoms seeking treatment at government outpatient clinics and private practices.

Additionally, with the Christmas and New Year holidays approaching, many Hong Kong residents traveling abroad may continue to bring the flu virus back, potentially raising the city's flu positivity rate to the baseline level of 4.94% in a few weeks, indicating the onset of the flu peak.

He also urged high-risk individuals, such as the elderly and young children, to get vaccinated against the flu. He noted that the vaccination rate for the flu among the 12 to 18 age group and those aged 50 to 64 has increased, but the rates for seniors aged 65 and above and children aged six months to two years are only about 51% and 16.4%, respectively, which he described as unsatisfactory.

He emphasized that children aged two to five years who contract the virus without vaccination are at a 6.4 times higher risk of complications and death compared to those who are vaccinated.

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