Mike Rowse

Opinion | Come flu season, Hong Kong hospitals are mobbed again. Why won’t everyone just get jabbed?

Hongkongers are rushing to hospital emergency departments at the first sign of flu. However, not enough people, particularly the vulnerable and healthcare workers, are getting the annual flu vaccination

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People wait to get a Covid-19 jab at the Java Road Playground Community Vaccination Station in Hong Kong on January 4 last year. Hongkongers are worried about a recent rise in both flu and Covid-19 cases. Photo: Jelly Tse

Mike Rowse

Published: 3:30pm, 14 Jan 2024

Recent events are revealing some interesting facts about healthcare in Hong Kong, in particular the continuing widespread reluctance to get vaccinated. Our accident and emergency departments have been under siege, as families rushed their children and seniors – the two most vulnerable groups – there for treatment at the first sign of flu. Waiting times have skyrocketed to eight hours and beyond in some hospitals.

The immediate cause of the panic has been the arrival of the annual flu season together with a rise in Covid-19 cases. Although the new Covid-19 variant does not seem more virulent than others circulating, there is public anxiety that contracting flu and Covid-19 together could have some nasty outcomes.

The subject was discussed on a radio show I co-hosted last week with a panel of experts comprising an emergency ward doctor from Caritas Medical Centre, a paediatrician from the Hong Kong Medical Association, the chairman of the microbiology department at the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, and the president of the Practising Pharmacists Association. I also subsequently filed some questions with the Department of Health.

The consensus seems clear: there is no need for members of the public to panic when flu symptoms first appear. Most cases can be treated by staying home from work or school for a day or two and drinking lots of water. Common medicines obtainable without prescription will, in most cases, fix things. If recovery is still delayed, then a visit to the local doctor is warranted.

Only if the patient’s condition deteriorates sharply at any point is it necessary to visit the nearest public hospital. Triage nurses are there to distinguish genuinely serious cases from milder ones, not to marshal crowds with nothing more serious than a cough or cold.

On one point all the experts were clear: everyone would benefit from getting the annual flu shot. As with the Covid-19 vaccination, there is no such thing as complete immunity, but symptoms and severe effects will be reduced. What does the vaccination situation look like? In a simple word, poor.