Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng said yesterday that the condition of a four-year-old boy suffering from serious influenza – whose critical condition was revealed by the authorities earlier this week – is improving.
Tam made the remarks while speaking to reporters yesterday at the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre where he was briefed by Heath Bureau (SSM) officials and the hospital’s senior staff members about the ongoing measures to cope with the peak flu season. The media was invited to cover the policy secretary’s inspection visit to the hospital on Guia Hill.
Tam was accompanied by officials such as SSM Director Lei Chin Ion, Deputy Director Kuok Cheong U, who also heads the public hospital, and Lei Wai Seng, the clinical director of the hospital, during the visit.
The Health Bureau announced during a press conference on Monday that the four-year-old boy was in critical condition due to Type A influenza associated with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
According to Monday’s press conference, the four-year-old boy began to have a fever and cough last Friday night and was taken by his family to the public hospital for outpatient treatment.
Last Saturday afternoon, the boy was taken to the public hospital again as his condition had not improved. A quick test confirmed that he was positive for influenza A, after which he was prescribed Tamiflu and discharged, according to Monday’s press conference.
Last Saturday night, the boy was taken to the public hospital again since he still had a high fever, felt cold and his speech had become slurred. When the boy was waiting for treatment at the hospital, he suffered urinary incontinence and weakness in his limbs, according to Monday’s press conference.
As a result, the boy was hospitalised after emergency treatment. Last Sunday, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed that the boy had also come down with encephalitis, and he was diagnosed with influenza A associated with encephalitis, according to Monday’s press conference.
Tam said yesterday he was grateful to the medical team treating the four-year-old boy for their efforts to improve his condition.
Jorge Sales Marques, the director of the public hospital’s paediatrics and neonatology section, told reporters on the sidelines of Tam’s inspection that the boy was now able to eat. He said that the boy was still subject to further observation by the hospital to decide when he could be discharged.
Accompanied by Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion (right), Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng (centre) shakes hands with a patient in wheelchair waiting for treatment at the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre yesterday. Photo: GCS
