Three new cases of severe paediatric influenza A infection were reported in the past two days, prompting the government and medical experts to urge for timely vaccination for the vulnerable.
According to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) on January 28, 2025, one of the patients was a 10-month-old girl. The second case involved a 12-year-old boy, diagnosed with severe pneumonia and shock. He was sent to paediatric intensive care unit. He lives in a school dormitory, and seven of his schoolmates have recently shown symptoms of upper respiratory infections.
Government urge school providing vaccination to students
Earlier in January, the CHP announced that Hong Kong had officially entered the influenza season. Alongside this announcement, a list of schools that had not arranged seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) outreach activities for students was made public.
“The current SIV Outreach Program has started since Sep. 26, 2024. After repeated reminders and appeals there are still schools that have not arranged SIV Outreach Activity for their children.” Said an anonymous spokesman of the DH, explaining the reason of making the name list. “The list is to remind the parents of these schools to bring along their children to receive influenza vaccination as soon as possible in order to safeguard their own children’s health.”
“My school has arranged SIV outreach activity long time ago. Most of the students has been vaccinated before the peak of the flu season arrived.” Said Mr. Chu Kwok-keung, the Representative Legislative Council Education Sector, also the president of Ta Ku Ling Ling Ying Public School (Primary school). “With the addition of the regular campus cleaning and disinfection, and educating students to be aware to personal hygiene. Certain results have indeed been achieved. So far, no cases of students infected with the Flu have been recorded.”
Vaccination rate among school-age children far from ideal
“The ideal influenza vaccination rate would be above 70%.” Said Ivan Fan-Ngai Hung, the Chair Professor of Infectious Diseases, from LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.
“According to the data posted by CHP, more work has to be done for the 6 months to 6 years old and 12-18 year-old group which is just above 50%. Children vaccination rate above 70% will enhance the herd immunity effect in protecting non-vaccinated elderlies living in the same household.” Dr. Hung added.
A Global Challenge: Influenza Surges Across Regions
This winter, influenza has emerged as a global health challenge. In Japan, data from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare indicates that influenza cases peaked between late 2024 and early 2025, with a sharper and higher surge than the previous year. This suggests a more intense outbreak compared to the last influenza season.
Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported widespread influenza activity across Europe and North America. As of February 9, 2025, more than 30% of tested samples in some European countries have returned positive for influenza, signaling a relatively severe epidemic.
Even heading toward the spring, influenza activities in East Europe and North America still appear to be increasing. As proportion of specimens testing positive is growing in a rate of 15%.
Vaccination to tackle Flu pandemic
Since the beginning of this flu season, nine severe paediatric cases with influenza-related complications have been recorded. Among them, seven—two preschoolers and five school-aged children—had not received this season’s influenza vaccination, while two had underlying chronic conditions.
A DH spokesperson highlighted the urgency of vaccination. “Surveillance data shows that the number of severe or fatal cases recorded in the first five weeks of this season exceeds that of the same period last year. However, it remains comparable to the pre-pandemic 2018/19 influenza season, which was also dominated by influenza A (H1).”
Given the data, medical experts continue to stress the necessity of increasing vaccination rates to curb severe cases. Dr. Hung reiterated the importance of herd immunity, particularly in protecting unvaccinated vulnerable populations. He also advocated for using non-traditional vaccines to help build up herd immunity by better adapting to conditions of schools. Inhaled vaccines like FluMist which are vaccines can take effect by simply breath in instead of injection, its easier administration and higher efficacy for schools with younger students:
“Promoting inhaled influenza vaccines, especially in kindergartens, could significantly improve coverage and protection.”
As flu activity continues to surge worldwide, public health authorities and experts emphasize the critical role of timely vaccination in mitigating the impact of the outbreak.
Very nice news story with views from experts and includes data from WHO!