A 19-month-old unvaccinated toddler is in a critical condition after contracting the flu, becoming the ninth serious case of influenza in children recorded since January, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection has said.
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The centre said on Saturday the boy was still being treated in a paediatric intensive care unit in hospital and urged residents who had yet to receive their flu shots to do so immediately to minimise the risk of serious complications or death if they became infected.
Only a fifth of children aged two and under have been vaccinated against the flu, official data shows.
“The 19 month-old boy with good past health developed a fever and cough on January 30,” a centre spokesman said. “The clinical diagnosis was influenza A infection complicated with severe pneumonia.”
The centre said the boy had no travel history during the incubation period and his household contacts were so far asymptomatic.
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It added the centre had recorded nine cases of severe flu in children since the start of the influenza season in early January, seven of which involved minors who were unvaccinated.