Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported on October 21 that it had recorded a fatal case of paediatric influenza infection. According to the report, the patient was a 12-year-old girl with underlying health conditions. She developed fever, cough and diarrhoea on October 17, followed by vomiting, and her condition worsened on the evening of October 19, when she was taken to the accident and emergency department of Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. She suffered a cardiac arrest, was resuscitated and admitted to paediatric intensive care. Her respiratory specimen tested positive for influenza A (H1), and her clinical diagnosis was influenza A infection complicated with septic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation and multi-organ failure. The CHP said she passed away on October 20.

Preliminary investigation found no travel history during the incubation period and that she had not received the 2026/27 seasonal influenza vaccination. A household contact had recently developed mild upper respiratory symptoms that did not require hospitalisation. The case will be referred to the Coroner.

The CHP said Hong Kong entered the influenza season in late June and that activity remained high, with a cumulative total of 25 severe paediatric influenza cases recorded that season—the same as the same period the previous season. Of these, 20 had recovered and been discharged, one was in serious condition, two were critical and two died. The CHP said it expected influenza activity to continue fluctuating at high levels in the coming weeks.