The Health Bureau (SSM) has announced that a 69-year-old local man, inflicted with various chronic diseases, has a serious case of influenza.
According to an SSM statement on Friday, the man came down with a cough on Monday last week, after which he sought treatment at a private clinic.
As his symptoms worsened and he began to develop shortness of breath, the statement said, he was taken to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre on Thursday.
The patient, who tested positive for the influenza A virus, was suffering from double pneumonia when he underwent tests at the hospital, the statement said.
Consequently, the statement said, he was diagnosed with influenza A complicated with pneumonia, respiratory failure, and renal insufficiency. He was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) later that day when he was put on a ventilator, the statement said.
The statement said that he had not received a seasonal influenza jab. None of his family members had come down with similar symptoms at the time of Friday’s statement.
The public hospital, informally known as Peak Hospital in Chinese, reported the case to the Health Bureau on Friday.
This poster downloaded from the website of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) yesterday explains the production of inactivated seasonal influenza vaccine.
