Post Reply - Human Meta-Pneumo Virus (HMPV)-China

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.

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.”

Hui reassured the public that a major outbreak of the H1N1 virus was unlikely, as it had been circulating throughout the year.

But he cautioned that the flu season could be prolonged if H3N2 became the dominant strain after H1N1, similar to the previous winter flu season.

Hui said he believed that with the population’s higher vaccination rate, this year’s flu cases were unlikely to be worse than last year’s.

More time was needed to determine whether the city would see a prolonged winter flu season of 28 weeks again, Hui said. But he did not rule out the possibility of a change in the dominant strain, noting that many residents might no longer be immune to H3 after continuous exposure to H1N1.

He also observed that fewer people were keeping masks on during the flu season, which would also affect the scale of the outbreak.

As of November 24, about 40 per cent of children aged below six and 60 per cent of those between six and 11 had received their seasonal flu vaccination, according to official statistics.

As for those aged 65 or above, less than 40 per cent had taken the vaccine.

Hui also noted local Covid-19 activity remained stable, with no outbreaks expected in the short term.