The epidemic situation in Hong Kong has stabilized for the time being, but new variants are likely to strike. In addition to the threat of influenza peaks in winter, Honorary Consultant Doctor Tsang Ho-fai of the Department of Health made a 3-point appeal at the government's epidemic press conference today (7th), including injections, wearing masks and monitoring Variant virus strains.
Zeng pointed out that there will be many respiratory diseases active in winter, such as adenovirus, parainfluenza, etc., so the role of masks is still important: "Masks have been with us for a long time, but this winter, we can't say goodbye to this friend." Hygiene. Au Ka-wing, chief doctor of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Protection, said that the influenza epidemic in many countries this year is serious, and he is worried that under the protection of recent epidemic prevention measures in Hong Kong, the risk of infection will increase.
▼On September 30, the vaccine pass will be reduced to 5 years old and apply on the first day▼
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Au Jiarong worried about the risk of influenza infection in Hong Kong children
Au Ka-wing said that although the northern hemisphere where Hong Kong is located has not yet entered winter, it has been observed that the situation of influenza in many countries this year is more serious than that in the past two years. Get the peak of H3N2.
Ou believes that Hong Kong people are now at an increased risk of contracting the flu. Due to the protection of masks and epidemic prevention measures in the past two years, the flu has not spread on a large scale, so immunity gradually declines with time.
In addition, children under the age of 3 have not been infected with influenza virus since birth, and "have been stored in a large population", thinking that if they are infected, they may increase the risk of severe illness.
▼ October 7 Epidemic Press Conference▼
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New crown and flu vaccine can be given together
Zeng Haohui made three appeals to this.
First of all, he emphasized the importance of injections and called on the public to get injections as soon as possible.
He explained that there will be another outbreak of influenza this year, and the magnitude will be more severe than before. Due to the drift of influenza over time, citizens may lose their immunity to influenza in recent years.
If you are infected with the new coronavirus and influenza virus at the same time, the disease can be very serious.
Zeng also pointed out that according to the survey, the influenza vaccination rate of children aged 6 months to 5 years is less than half; adults aged 50 to 64 are only more than 10%; the elderly are only 40 to 50%.
He believes that in addition to reducing the chance of infection, injections can also help elderly and chronically ill patients to reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death.
He emphasized that the flu vaccine can be vaccinated by everyone, including children over 6 months old, and the safety is also guaranteed. It can be vaccinated at the same time as the new crown vaccine.
▼The arrival level of the airport on the first day of the implementation of the entry quarantine "0+3" on September 26▼
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Respiratory diseases such as adenovirus and parainfluenza are also active in winter and masks are very important
As for the second point, Zeng Haohui said bluntly: "The mask has been with us for a long time, but I can't say goodbye to this friend this winter." He explained that in addition to the new crown and influenza virus this winter, other respiratory diseases Also active, such as adenovirus, parainfluenza, etc.
Zeng said that the role of each needle is targeted, but multiple studies have shown that masks can prevent the spread of different respiratory viruses, including preventing 80% of the transmission rate in medical care settings, and close to half in the community.
He expects that there will be many respiratory viruses raging in the next winter. "I think this mask measure is very important."
▼Compulsory testing announcement from October 1▼
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Watch closely to see if mutated virus strains affect vaccine effectiveness
Finally, Zeng Haohui said that we should pay attention to the mutant virus strain. For example, BA2.75 in Singapore has been on the rise, accounting for 25% of cases; there is also a new mutant virus strain in the United States, which is BA4.6.
He pointed out that the virus is constantly mutating, and it is necessary to closely observe its characteristics and whether it will affect the effectiveness of the vaccine.
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