Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.dimsumdaily.hk/two-year...-as-health-chiefs-urge-immediate-vaccination/
Two-year-old girl in critical condition with influenza A as health chiefs urge immediate vaccination
By imsum Daily Newsroom -
9:05PM Thu November 27, 202
27th November 2025 – (Hong Kong) Health authorities have confirmed a severe paediatric influenza case involving a two-year-old girl, prompting renewed calls for parents to arrange seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) for their children without delay.
The child, who had been in good health, developed fever, vomiting and diarrhoea on 25th November. She was taken to United Christian Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department on 26th November and admitted. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, with shock and worsening clinical status necessitating transfer to the paediatric intensive care unit. Arrangements are under way to move her to Hong Kong Children’s Hospital for further management. She remains in a critical condition. Laboratory testing of a nasopharyngeal swab confirmed influenza A (H3), with clinicians diagnosing influenza A complicated by shock, encephalopathy and multi‑organ failure.
The girl had not received the 2025/26 SIV and had no travel history during the incubation period. One household contact recently experienced mild respiratory symptoms but did not require hospital care and has since recovered.
This case brings the total number of severe paediatric influenza infections this summer season to 22, including two deaths, affecting children aged from 11 months to 17 years. Since the launch of this year’s SIV programmes, 13 severe cases have been recorded; only one child had been vaccinated, four days before onset—insufficient time for immunity to develop. It typically takes about two weeks post‑vaccination to achieve adequate protection...
Two-year-old girl in critical condition with influenza A as health chiefs urge immediate vaccination
By imsum Daily Newsroom -
9:05PM Thu November 27, 202
27th November 2025 – (Hong Kong) Health authorities have confirmed a severe paediatric influenza case involving a two-year-old girl, prompting renewed calls for parents to arrange seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) for their children without delay.
The child, who had been in good health, developed fever, vomiting and diarrhoea on 25th November. She was taken to United Christian Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department on 26th November and admitted. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, with shock and worsening clinical status necessitating transfer to the paediatric intensive care unit. Arrangements are under way to move her to Hong Kong Children’s Hospital for further management. She remains in a critical condition. Laboratory testing of a nasopharyngeal swab confirmed influenza A (H3), with clinicians diagnosing influenza A complicated by shock, encephalopathy and multi‑organ failure.
The girl had not received the 2025/26 SIV and had no travel history during the incubation period. One household contact recently experienced mild respiratory symptoms but did not require hospital care and has since recovered.
This case brings the total number of severe paediatric influenza infections this summer season to 22, including two deaths, affecting children aged from 11 months to 17 years. Since the launch of this year’s SIV programmes, 13 severe cases have been recorded; only one child had been vaccinated, four days before onset—insufficient time for immunity to develop. It typically takes about two weeks post‑vaccination to achieve adequate protection...