Severe Influenza A Case Reported as Hong Kong Enters Summer Influenza Season

Hong Kong enters its summer influenza season with another case of severe paediatric influenza A infection reported

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (September 9) announced a case of severe paediatric influenza A infection. The CHP also reminded members of the public that the local influenza activity has further increased over the past week, indicating that Hong Konghas entered the summer influenza season. Members of the public should maintain good personal and environmental hygiene at all times. Schools and parents should arrange for children to participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) programmes at the start of the new school year to receive free vaccination and prevent respiratory infections.

New case of severe paediatric influenza A infection

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The case involves a 15-year-old boy who developed a fever, sore throat, coughing and vomiting yesterday (September 8). He attended a private hospital and was admitted to its paediatric intensive care unit. His nasopharyngeal swab specimen was positive for influenza A (H3) virus upon laboratory testing. The clinical diagnosis was influenza A complicated with septic shock. He was transferred to a general ward today and is in stable condition. So far, his household contacts are asymptomatic.

The CHP investigation revealed that the boy had received the 2024/25 seasonal influenza vaccine. Five other students in his class recently developed mild influenza-like symptoms between September 5 and 6. They sought medical treatment and none of them required hospitalisation. No outbreaks have been reported in other classes at the school so far. The CHP advised the school on the necessary infection control measures to be implemented and will continue to put the school under medical surveillance.

Since last Friday (September 5), five cases of severe paediatric influenza A infection have been recorded. This marked the first occurrence of severe paediatric cases since mid-April this year. Since January this year, the CHP has recorded a cumulative total of 16 cases of severe influenza virus infections in children. Ten of them were unvaccinated in the 2024/25 season.

Influenza activity continues to rise

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After cautiously monitoring influenza trends over the past two weeks, the CHP determined that Hong Kong has entered the summer influenza season. Summer influenza seasons do not occur every year. During the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic (between 2010 and 2019), Hong Kong experienced a summer influenza season in five years. The summer influenza seasons usually occurred between July and August, and lasted for six to 18 weeks. The CHP anticipated that the local influenza activity would remain at a relatively high level in the near term.

According to preliminary surveillance data, the percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for seasonal influenza viruses during the week of August 31 to September 6 was 6.94 per cent (provisional figure), higher than the 6.16 per cent recorded during the preceding week (August 24 to 30).

Regarding outbreaks influenza-like illness (ILI) in schools and residential care homes (RCHs), the CHP recorded 26 outbreaks during the week of August 31 to September 6, affecting a total of 259 individuals, nearly doubling from the 14 outbreaks (affecting 81 individuals) reported during the previous week (August 24 to 30). With the start of the new school term, there has been a significant increase in ILI outbreaks in schools. The number of outbreaks rose from four (affecting 25 people) in the week ending August 30 to 15 (affecting 202 people) in the week ending September 6. In the first three days of this week (September 7 to 9), 24 school outbreaks (affecting 276 people) were recorded, with four cases involving 20 to 98 people. The CHP staff have inspected these schools and advised the schools on necessary infection control measures. These included recommending that students wear masks on campus, appropriately opening windows to improve ventilation in individual activity rooms and classrooms, thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting the campus, and suspending inter-class and inter-grade activities. The CHP also advised teachers and students to check their temperature daily before returning to school. If they develop symptoms or fever, they should not go to school. The CHP will continue to put these schools and RCHs under medical surveillance.

Vaccination effectively prevents severe cases of seasonal influenza and its complications

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Vaccination has been scientifically proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent seasonal influenza and its complications. It also reduces the risks of in-patient admission and mortality due to seasonal influenza. The Government has all along been encouraging the public to receive vaccination as early as possible, and providing free and subsidised seasonal influenza vaccines to eligible high-risk groups through various vaccination programmes. During the previous influenza season (2024/25), approximately 2.09 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccines were administered under various SIV Programmes, setting a new historical high. Severe influenza cases among adults and children decreased significantly by 20 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, compared to the influenza seasons before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is believed to be attributable to higher vaccination rates.

The DH announced yesterday (September 8) 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. Approximately 2 300 schools (99 per cent) have joined the outreach programme. To safeguard students' health, the CHP will publish a list of schools not participating in the programme on its official website to remind parents to promptly arrange for children in those schools to receive vaccinations from family doctors.

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.

Source: AI-found images

Remarks by DSJ at 61st session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva

The Deputy Secretary for Justice, Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, today (March 18, Geneva time) finished attending the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

Joining him for the meeting were representatives of the Department of Justice, the Security Bureau and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. Officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attended the meeting as members of the Chinese delegation.

Following are the remarks by Dr Cheung at the session.

Agenda item 4 general debate on human rights situations that require the Council's attention

Mr President,

The implementation of the National Security Law has successfully safeguarded national sovereignty and security, and ensured long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, China.

It is every sovereign state's inherent right to enact national security laws. China is no exception. For example, the United Kingdom has at least 14 pieces of national security legislation, including the sweeping National Security Act of 2023.It is hypocritical of any country to demand another country to repeal its own national security law and leave it defenseless.

Jimmy Lai's case was mentioned yesterday. I am obliged to point out that he was defended by a team of lawyers of his own choice and received a fair trial for his offences endangering national security. The court's verdict and sentence were published with detailed reasons, for which he chose not to appeal. Lai has received appropriate treatment in custody and never made any complaint. Any suggestion that certain individuals should be immune from legal consequences for their illegal acts totally runs contrary to the spirit of the rule of law.

All in all, we oppose the biased allegations concerning Hong Kong's situation, which have ignored the objective facts demonstrating our remarkable achievements.

Mr President, let me share with you some figures. Last year, Hong Kong was ranked the world's freest economy, No.1 in global IPO(initial public offering) market rankings, and No.1 as Asia's largest hedge fund hub and cross-boundary wealth management centre.

The common law system of Hong Kong is internationally renowned. Hong Kong was ranked the second-most preferred seat of arbitration worldwide last year. The Judiciary exercises judicial power independently, fairly, impartially and openly. Judgments of the Court of Final Appeal were cited as persuasive authorities in overseas common law jurisdictions on close to 50 occasions in the past six years.

These are testaments to the trust and confidence that businesses and people have in the freedom, stability and the rule of law of Hong Kong.

We will continue to safeguard national security and protect legitimate rights and interests of all individuals. Thank you, Mr President.

Agenda item 5 general debate on human rights bodies and mechanism

Mr Vice-President,

China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is committed to engaging in constructive dialogue and co-operation on human rights issues within the UN framework on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

The human rights of Hong Kong residents are constitutionally guaranteed and protected under the National Security Law. The provisions of the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) as applied to Hong Kong are incorporated in local law.

Human rights protection is further underpinned by the rule of law and the Judiciary which acts impartially and independently.

Since the enactment of the National Security Law over fiveyears ago, prosecutions for national security offences constituted less than 0.2 per cent of all criminal proceedings.

We note that the representative of the Netherlands mentioned Chow Hang-tung's case. We urge member states to respect the rule of law and refrain from interfering with on-going legal proceedings in Hong Kong's court.

We are firmly committed as ever to the protection of human rights and always seek to make improvements based on actual circumstances. Thank you.

Remarks by DSJ at 61st session of United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases