The public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre’s Chief Paediatrician Wong Fong Ian said yesterday that infection rates of respiratory infectious disease in Macau are at a high level, and mycoplasma pneumonia infections from January to April this year reached the total number of infections for the whole of last year.
Dr Wong made the remarks when attending a current affairs phone-in programme hosted by Ou Mun Tin Toi yesterday, the Chinese-language radio channel of public broadcaster TDM.
Dr Wong pointed out that young kids are more susceptible to illness at the age of two to three, and as this age group went out less and wore face masks more often during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic (2020-22), there is currently a common lack of immunity to cross-infection in children in Macau and other cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), resulting in some patients having been infected with two to four viruses at the same time, and some patients’ condition was even critical.
Dr Wong noted that in recent months, the number of serious influenza and COVID-19 cases has been on the rise, with 5,570 patients in April, adding that the wards at the public hospital are full.
During yesterday’s phone-in programme, Health Bureau official Chan Choi Van said that according to the bureau’s data, as of last Wednesday, 173,000 doses of influenza vaccine had been administered this year, an increase of about 20 percent over the same period last year.
Chan also pointed out that the vaccination rate in elderly care homes stands at over 90 percent, while in kindergartens and primary schools it is nearly at 80 percent, adding that over 50 percent of children aged under three years and elderly people over 65 years old have been vaccinated, more than last year.
Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the Health Bureau, reminded residents yesterday that vaccination can prevent severe cases of influenza, adding that residents should take good protective measures and pay attention to hygiene to reduce the risk of infection.
The public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre’s Chief Paediatrician Wong Fong Ian (left), Health Bureau official Chan Choi Van (right) and Leong Iek Hou, who heads the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Health Bureau, pose on the sidelines of yesterday’s phone-in programme, “Ou Mun Gwong Cheuhng”, hosted by public broadcaster TDM’s Chinese-language radio station.
– Photo courtesy of TDM
