Hong Kong’s winter flu season could peak twice, similar to last year. Photo: Antony DicksonAccording to an infectious disease expert, Hong Kong’s flu season is expected to start in December; it is likely to have two peaks, driven by different strains of the flu.
Ivan Hung Fan-ngai is the chair professor of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong. He said that flu activity levels remained low for now but could go up in about two months.
“I believe that we are likely to enter the flu season around December,” he told a radio programme. “The winter outbreak is likely to be similar to the [previous one] with double peaks.”
Hung said the first peak of the coming flu season could be driven by influenza A subtype H3. The second is likely to be caused by the H1 strain.
The academic also said that while Covid-19 cases might remain low for now, he expected a small peak around December or January. He said that it would likely not be as severe as the flu.
He advised people to get vaccinated against respiratory infections since the annual government flu vaccine programme had started.
He suggested that people could wait until November for the newer mRNA vaccine. This updated jab targets the JN.1 Covid-19 variant, which is one of the most common strains in Hong Kong.