Hong Kong is approaching the winter flu season, but vaccination rates among most age groups remain below the 70 per cent threshold needed for herd immunity, a leading government medical adviser has warned. David Hui Shu-cheong on Saturday reminded the public to get vaccinated ahead of Lunar New Year, when social gatherings are frequent.
Hong Kong is approaching the winter flu season, but vaccination rates among most age groups remain below the 70 per cent threshold needed for herd immunity, a leading government medical adviser has warned.
David Hui Shu-cheong, chairman of the government’s scientific committee on emerging and zoonotic diseases, on Saturday reminded the public to get vaccinated ahead of Lunar New Year, when social gatherings are frequent. He noted that 70 to 80 per cent of severe flu cases among both adults and children during the recent summer season involved unvaccinated patients.
“If the rate of respiratory samples testing positive for influenza, institutional outbreaks and hospitalisation rates continue to rise over the next two weeks, then we will be in the winter flu season,” Hui told a radio programme.
Hui, a respiratory disease expert, said it would be difficult to predict how long the flu season would last, adding that Hong Kong could be affected by different strains of influenza one after another. He noted that the city was first hit by H3N2 and then quickly followed by H1N1 for several months in 2023 and 2024.
According to Hui, the rate of respiratory samples testing positive for influenza rose from 3.9 per cent the week before to 4.6 per cent last week, edging very close to the baseline of 4.94 per cent. Data from the Centre for Health Protection and Hospital Authority underscore the urgency of vaccination to achieve herd immunity.