Hong Kong has entered a period that people should be on guard against influenza, a spokesman for the Health Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regional government said on Monday.

Health Department consultant Thomas Tsang said at a press conference that in the recent six years, the peak season of influenza mainly lay between February and March, but it might come earlier this year.

Tsang said there has already been a widespread outbreak of influenza in Europe and North America and according to previous experiences, the disease spread promptly to Asia after it broke out in Europe and America.

Therefore, Tsang said, in this period of time, Hong Kong people should stay alert and be prepared for the outbreak of the disease.

For the first week of December, there were a total of five influenza detections from the Public Health Laboratory Center, and in the recent weeks, there was only one influenza outbreak affecting eight persons reported to the Department of Health and no indication of increase in influenza isolate detections, according to Tsang.

Tsang said that this year, a new Fujian-like influenza disease was detected which is similar to the Panama-like influenza disease. Both are now found in influenza cases in Hong Kong and it is not yet known if the Fujian-like disease will bring adverse effects to particular groups of people such as children, Tsang added.

To prepare for the outbreak of influenza, the Hong Kong government has already provided influenza vaccine injection for high risk people including old people and disabled people and medical staff who work at the front line.

Meanwhile, Tsang said, the government will teach citizens the importance of personal hygiene through education and promotion. A website has been specially designed to provide the public with the latest information on the condition of influenza.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2003)