Hong Kong to speed up school flu vaccinations as activity stays high

Hong Kong’s Department of Health plans to accelerate its school-based influenza vaccination programme as flu activity remains high. The programme is scheduled to begin on September 17, with the first school outreach vaccination service planned for September 18.

Director of Health Ronald Lam said influenza activity had risen in a wave-like pattern since June and remained at a high level. The latest reported laboratory surveillance found influenza viruses in 13% of respiratory samples, compared with 12% during the same period last year.

Influenza A/H1 is the dominant strain, accounting for about 80% of infections, according to the Department of Health’s account. The reported figures describe a season that is continuing to circulate at a higher level than last year, rather than a single short-lived spike.

The department aims to complete outreach vaccination at 80 schools by the end of September, compared with five during the same period last year. More than 99% of schools have joined the programme, and the department aims to complete arrangements for more than 99% of participating schools by mid-December.

For children whose schools are taking part, the school outreach programme is the official route for vaccination. Parents whose schools are not participating should arrange vaccination with a private doctor enrolled in the government’s vaccination subsidy scheme; 14 schools were reported not to have joined because of administrative or scheduling reasons.

The urgency for families is also linked to severe paediatric cases. Ming Pao reported that Hong Kong had recorded 19 severe child influenza cases this year, including one death, while RTHK reported that about half of the cases involved children aged five or below and that three were unvaccinated.

The published accounts do not give the same breakdown: Ming Pao reported eight children aged five or below, five of whom had not been vaccinated. Those figures cannot be reconciled from the available reporting, so parents should treat the overall official warning separately from the disputed detail and check their school’s participation before arranging a vaccination appointment.