HK flu outbreak 'seasonal': WHO

No evidence so far to link it to bird flu or Sars; half a million children stay home
Chua Chin Hon, Straits Times 14 Mar 08;

BEIJING - ABOUT half a million schoolchildren in Hong Kong stayed home yesterday as the city's health authorities took no chances with a flu outbreak that has killed four youngsters so far.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday the current outbreak was 'seasonal influenza' and health experts saw no evidence so far to suggest that the cases were linked to bird flu or the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003.

Late on Wednesday night, Hong Kong ordered all kindergartens and primary schools closed for two weeks after officials reported flu outbreaks in 23 schools involving 184 people.

Defending the action to close schools, Hong Kong Health Secretary York Chow told reporters yesterday it was a difficult decision, but the authorities were looking at a rising number of infections.

The government action might have been 'a little drastic', but he also said: 'We cannot wait for the figures to get bigger before we make any decision. We have to make certain assumptions that if there are now deaths related to influenza, then we need to do something.'

On Tuesday, a seven-year-old boy died and tested positive for a flu strain known as Type A or H1N1, a virus also found in a 21-month-old toddler who died last month.

Two other children have also died after falling ill with flu-like symptoms.

Mainland cities near Hong Kong, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, were watching the situation closely as well. Southern China has just entered its annual flu season, which falls between March and July.

The WHO's Manila-based spokesman Peter Cordingley said the agency was monitoring the situation.

'What Hong Kong's dealing with is just basically seasonal influenza, but it's happening in a city which is always on the alert for infectious disease,' he told The Straits Times.

'The Hong Kong government, by closing the schools, can hope to break the line of transmission of the virus and clean the schools.

'They are showing they are responding to public concern and that is important when you're trying to handle something like this.'

The WHO estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 die from flu worldwide each year.