A seven-year-old girl with a chronic illness is critically ill after developing influenza A complicated by septic shock, the Centre for Health Protection said. A respiratory sample tested positive for influenza A (H1).
She developed a runny nose, diarrhoea and abdominal pain on 29 October. The following day she developed a fever and convulsions and was taken to the emergency department at Tuen Mun Hospital, where she was admitted. Her condition later worsened and she received further treatment in the hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit.
The Centre for Health Protection said Hong Kong had recorded 28 serious paediatric influenza cases since the season began in late June, as of 31 October. Two patients had died. Of the 28 cases, 20 patients had recovered and been discharged, two were stable and four were critically ill.
The girl had not received this season’s influenza vaccine. Three other pupils in her class had recently developed mild flu symptoms but did not need hospitalisation, the Centre for Health Protection said.
The Centre’s latest monitoring showed signs of a decline in overall influenza activity, although it remained above baseline. It urged everyone aged six months or older to get the seasonal influenza vaccine as soon as possible.