Hong Kong parents urged to get children vaccinated against flu as next influenza cycle looms

Hong Kong parents should get their children vaccinated against seasonal flu, a top government health adviser on Saturday warned while pointing out most young patients among severe cases in summer had not received a flu shot earlier.

Professor David Hui Shu-cheong of Chinese University said among eight children treated for severe flu in summer, only two were vaccinated.

“Encephalitis [caused by severe flu] may affect children’s thinking ability, and some serious cases might develop into pneumonia,” Hui said. Encephalitis is an inflammation of brain tissue.

More than 15,000 flu patients have been admitted to public hospitals since the start of the summer influenza season from early May to mid-August, according to official statistics.

A total of 546 severe cases, including 384 deaths, have been recorded so far.

Hui said it was too early to predict the trend of the coming flu cycle, but the infection rate had gradually dropped to 11.6 per cent in recent weeks from 12.8 per cent at the end of August, after an increase from 9.2 per cent in the middle of that month.

He warned that as the new school year began, the risk of flu transmission among students would grow.

He advised parents to get their young ones vaccinated at free outreach programmes launched by the Centre for Health Protection, under which medical professionals would be sent to schools to administer jabs from October 5.

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For parents who prefer going to a private clinic for the shots, Hui said users could claim for the shots under a recurring vaccination subsidy scheme at partnered clinics.

He added that flu and Covid inoculation could be done on the same day.

“When there are vaccines available, citizens should understand the necessity and importance of getting themselves inoculated,” he said.

The third-generation Covid-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and Moderna was approved by the FDA in the US on September 11.

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Hui, also the chairman of the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases under the Department of Health, said committee members were in discussion over importing the new vaccine into the city.

While South Korea, Italy, the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore have seen the rise of new Covid variant EG.5, Hui said no such cases had been recorded in Hong Kong.

He urged the elderly and high-risk groups to consider a booster shot, stressing that heightened awareness of vaccination in society played an important role in lowering the rate of severe cases and deaths.