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| Top HK officials had flu jabs last year to encourage the public to do the same |
A government health adviser has urged the public to get vaccinated against the flu, in the wake of a surge in severe cases of influenza in the past week.
According to Lau
Yun-lung, chairman of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases,
there were 25 severe cases of influenza reported in the second week of April alone, and more than 80 percent of the patients were not vaccinated.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE! |
Lau said in an interview
on a radio program on Thursday that it has been three years since Hong Kong had
a surge in flu cases, which means residents’ immunity to the seasonal disease is low.
He said elderly people
should consider taking the recombinant influenza vaccine instead of the
inactivated type as the former has been shown to give better protection to
people in this age group.
He added the government
has sufficient stock of the recombinant vaccine to inoculate up to 90,000
people.
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He also said secondary
school students have been put in the priority group list for receiving the
vaccine to avoid having both Covid and flu outbreaks at schools, which could
potentially paralyze the city’s health system.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s panel of
experts issued recommendations for seasonal influenza vaccination for the
2023-2024 flu season with secondary school students remaining in the priority
groups for the second year.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The others in the group are health care workers,
persons aged 50 years or above, pregnant women, residents of residential care
homes, persons with chronic medical problems, children and adolescents aged 6
months to under 18 years, poultry workers, as well as pig farmers and
pig-slaughtering industry personnel.
Those in these categories can get the vaccine for free
at any health clinics while subsidized flu shots are made available at certain
designated private clinics for those not in the priority list.
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The panel noted that the number of flu cases had risen
past the baseline threshold in early April, signaling the start of the
influenza season in the city.
They recommended that everyone, except those with
contraindications, should receive the vaccine annually for personal protection.
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They also said Covid-19 vaccines can be given at the
same time as the flu jab to anyone who gives consent.
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