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Emily Tsang

The city could be hit hard by a second wave of influenza this summer if the government fails to get a vaccine in time, a world expert said yesterday.
Yuen Kwok-yung, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, also warned that young and healthy adults with H3N2 could experience no flu-like symptoms but suffer serious conditions.
Yuen's remarks came as eight more people died from the flu virus yesterday, raising the death toll this year to 126, and serious cases to 198.
"After the first wave of epidemic we are having now, there is often a second wave of seasonable peak for the flu virus in July or August," Yuen said.
"It can be quite serious. The summer peak sometimes can be harder than the winter peak."
The situation is fuelled by the World Health Organisation wrongly predicting that a so-called Texas variant of influenza A subtype H3N2, along with other strains, would be dominant in the northern hemisphere this winter, and identified which vaccines should be used accordingly to protect the most vulnerable.
Because of the error, the correct vaccine will not be available to local doctors until April.
HKU's microbiologist Ho Pak-leung called for all children, including those who are not sick, to be required to wear masks in kindergarten and primary schools before the Lunar New Year holiday. He also wanted free flu jabs to be extended to schoolchildren, who could be immunised at school.
But Dr Leung Ting-hung, controller of the Centre of Health Protection, said there would not be sufficient manpower to offer citywide injections to young children, and advised people other than the high-risk group to get the jab at private clinics.
Flu viruses can also trigger heart conditions or cerebral vascular disease, Yuen said, and some infected patients do not display flu-like symptoms. A woman aged 38, who was otherwise healthy, required intensive care for a severe lung infection and a low white blood cell count due to the flu virus.
The Department of Health was keeping close contact with vaccine-makers and would acquire the necessary vaccines in accordance with established procedures, a spokesman said.


Hong Kong could face second flu surge if vaccine delayed, expert warns