Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported two cases of severe paediatric influenza infection on September 10, saying overall influenza activity was very high. The 2026/27 Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Programmes were scheduled to start on September 17, and the CHP urged the public to get vaccinated soon after the programmes begin. It said parents could submit consent forms for their children through the eHealth mobile app.

The first case involved an 11-year-old boy with good past health who developed fever, cough and drowsiness on September 9 and was admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit at Tuen Mun Hospital, where he remained in serious condition. The second involved a six-year-old boy with underlying illnesses who was hospitalised at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and later moved to intensive care, also in serious condition. Neither had received the vaccine in the previous season, the CHP said.

Since the season began in late June, the CHP had recorded 19 severe paediatric cases as of the report. According to surveillance data for August 30 to September 5, 13.05 per cent of respiratory specimens tested positive for seasonal influenza viruses, and the public hospital influenza admission rate was 0.83 cases per 10 000 population. As of September 9, 73 school outbreaks involving 398 people had been reported since the school year began in September, and outbreaks in residential care homes for the elderly rose to 23, involving 134 people.