The Health Bureau (SSM) said yesterday that a four-year-old boy was in critical condition due to Type A influenza associated with encephalitis.
The bureau made the announcement during a press conference about Macau’s situation of seasonal influenza. The presser took place at the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre.
Addressing the press conference, Lam Chong, who heads the bureau’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said that patient data from the public hospital and the private Kiang Wu Hospital showed that Macau has entered its peak flu season.
Lam said he expected the seasonal flu situation to worsen further, and the situation around the upcoming Chinese New Year period to become serious. The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on February 5.
Lam also said he expected the “serious” situation to last for two or three months.
According to Lam, Macau has so far recorded 13 cases of serious influenza complicated by pneumonia since September last year, with 10 of the 13 patients not having had their flu vaccination.
Among the 13 patients, two are still in hospital – an 86-year-old man and the four-year-old boy, according to Lam. The former is in stable condition while the latter is in critical condition. Neither had had flu shots before being infected with the influenza virus, Lam said.
According to yesterday’s press conference, the four-year-old boy began to have fever and cough on Friday night and was taken by his family to the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre for outpatient treatment.
On Saturday afternoon, the boy was taken to the public hospital again as his condition did not improve. A quick test confirmed that he was positive for influenza A, after which he was prescribed Tamiflu and discharged, according to the press conference.
Health Bureau (SSM) Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Director Lam Chong (left), Lei Wai Seng (centre), the clinical director of the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre, and Jorge Sales Marques, the director of the hospital’s paediatrics and neonatology section, address yesterday’s press conference at the public hospital about Macau’s latest situation of seasonal influenza. Photo: SSM
