Over half a million Hong Kong children stayed at home today after all kindergartens and primary schools were shut for two weeks to contain a flu outbreak.
A panel of experts is investigating the deaths of three children, aged two, three and seven, over the last two weeks. The two older children were infected with seasonal flu, while the cause of illness in the youngest child is unknown.
Hong Kong Health Secretary York Chow
"Our main concern is the infection of young children. The percentage of young children getting influenza this season seems to be higher," Health Secretary York Chow said.
The government disclosed two new cases today, a three-year-old boy who was in stable condition in hospital and a 21-month-old boy who died in late February after being admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms.
The health scare has not been linked to H5N1 bird flu, but the government's decision to close the schools brought back memories of 2003, when an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome hit Hong Kong