The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (September 16) announced a case of severe paediatric influenza A infection. The CHP urged the public to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene at all times. Schools and parents should arrange their students and children to participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) programme and receive free SIV to prevent contracting respiratory illnesses.

     The case involved a 3-year-old girl with underlying illnesses. She developed a fever, cough and shortness of breath yesterday (September 15). She attended the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Mary Hospital and was admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit of the hospital on the same day. Her nasopharyngeal swab specimen tested positive for the influenza A virus upon laboratory testing. The clinical diagnosis was influenza A infection complicated with severe pneumonia. She is still hospitalised and is in serious condition.

     The CHP investigation showed that one of her household contacts, who was infected with influenza A last week, sought medical attention and did not require hospitalisation. She had not received the 2024/25 SIV. There has been no recent influenza outbreak at the school she studied.

     Besides, Hong Kong has entered the summer influenza season, outbreaks of influenza-like illness (ILI) in schools and residential care homes have significantly increased in the past two weeks. Since September (as of September 15), there have been 104 outbreaks involving schools, including kindergartens/child care centres (14 cases), primary schools (56 cases) and secondary schools (34 cases).

     The DH announced that the 2025/26 SIV Programmes would commence on September 25 to provide a free or subsidised SIV to eligible high-risk groups through various vaccination programmes. A number of new initiatives have been introduced to encourage and enable public participation, including further enhancing the SIV School Outreach Programme so that all schools may choose to use the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV nasal vaccines) and "hybrid mode", i.e. schools being allowed to choose both injectable inactivated influenza vaccines (IIV) and LAIV for the same or different outreach vaccination activities.

     To make vaccinations more accessible, the Government will open all 29 of the DH's Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) for all children aged 6 months to under 2 years. Moreover, the 25 District Health Centres and District Health Centre Expresses and their service outlets under the Primary Healthcare Commission, and 74 general outpatient clinics and 38 public hospitals of the Hospital Authority to provide more choices for the public. For a list of vaccination venues, please refer to the CHP's Vaccination Schemes page. Starting from 9am on September 22, parents of eligible children may book an appointment for their children to receive vaccinations at designated MCHCs via the online booking system.

     The CHP reminded high-risk persons to wear surgical masks when visiting public places. The general public should also wear a surgical mask when taking public transport or staying in crowded places. People with respiratory symptoms, even if mild, should wear a surgical mask and seek medical advice promptly, and consider whether to go to work or school. For the latest information on seasonal influenza, members of the public can visit the CHP's seasonal influenza and COVID-19 & Flu Express webpages.   

Ends/Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Issued at HKT 20:08

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