Hong Kong’s winter flu season is expected to peak in mid-January, a respiratory disease expert has predicted, noting holidaymakers were returning from countries experiencing H1N1 outbreaks.
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David Hui Shu-cheong, a professor of respiratory medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, on Sunday urged high-risk groups including children and elderly residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The latest data from the Centre for Health Protection indicated overall influenza activity remained low, but there had been an uptick in the percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for flu at public laboratories.
The positivity rate increased from 1.09 per cent in the week of December 8 to 1.35 per cent in the week of December 15, Hui said.
“It’s very likely local flu activity will continue to rise,” he said in a television interview. “Many residents have also recently gone to Japan, mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, which are having an outbreak of H1N1. In South Korea, there is even a co-circulation of H1N1 and H3N2, and it’s possible for holidaymakers to bring the virus back home as they return.
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He said Hong Kong would likely reach the baseline threshold of 4.94 per cent in just “a few weeks”, he said. The percentage of positive influenza test results indicates the typical level of influenza activity in a population.
“It’s therefore very likely for us to see a peak in January.”