Experts warn of more contagious flu strain as HK remains in peak season
發佈日期: 2025-11-12 22:40
TVB News
Hong Kong remains in the grip of the flu season with the dominant H3N2 influenza strain showing new signs of mutation.
The latest studies found seven mutations in recent H3N2 samples which could increase its transmissibility.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Pathogen Evolution have found seven genetic changes in recent H3N2 samples -- changes that could make the virus spread faster.
Respiratory expert Professor David Hui from the Chinese University of Hong Kong explains if 100 people have been infected, the earlier strain might spread to about 120 others. With this mutation, that number could rise to 140. The virus spreads more easily, but the level of severity has not risen.
Still, he says the current flu vaccines remain effective.
Hui says that doesn't mean the vaccine is useless as it continues to tamp down the risk of hospitalisation and death, and this year's flu inoculation still guards against H3N2, H1N1 and influenza B.
Meanwhile, infectious disease expert Professor Ivan Hung from the University of Hong Kong notes that flu mutations are random and that the distinction between summer and winter flu seasons is now becoming less relevant.
He says what matters most is whether the virus mutates and whether the community has sufficient antibodies -- including the vaccination rates.
These factors all influence when and how outbreaks occur, he says. He says that another wave of H1N1 influenza could emerge around February next year.
