Hong Kong shuts schools amid flu outbreak

HONG KONG: Hong Kong children stayed home on Thursday after the government shut elementary schools for two weeks to contain a seasonal flu outbreak as experts probed the deaths of four children.

Two of the children were infected with seasonal flu while the causes of illness in the other two were not known. A fifth child, a 3-year-old boy, was in stable condition in hospital.

The health scare has not been linked to H5N1 bird flu but the government’s decision on Wednesday to close the schools brought back memories of 2003, when an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome hit Hong Kong.

The government-appointed expert panel will try to pin down why more young children seem to be infected this year and the reason for the deaths, said Health Secretary York Chow, who announced the closure of kindergartens and primary schools late on Wednesday night.

Hong Kong, Thursday, AFP