{
  "id": 15993121,
  "title": "'Summer flu season to last longer than last year's'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/summer-flu-season-to-last-longer-than-last-years",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-22T03:20:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "RTHK English",
    "slug": "rthk-english",
    "url": "https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1874881-20261022.htm"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hong Kong's flu season is extending further than last year, according to the Centre for Health Protection's controller, Edwin Tsui. The flu season has entered its 16th week, far surpassing the typical 18-week duration of previous years. Tsui predicts this summer's flu season will be longer than the last due to a change in dominant virus strains. Influenza A H3 viruses dominated from the end of June, followed by H1 viruses in August. This year, 25 children have been hospitalized in intensive care or died from severe flu, compared to 25 throughout all of 2025. Over 80 percent of the serious pediatric cases were either unvaccinated or had underlying health conditions. Two children have tragically passed away, including a 12-year-old girl who died on Tuesday. Among adults, 841 have been admitted to intensive care or died, a significant increase from 490 in 2025. The proportion of respiratory samples testing positive for flu has nearly doubled compared to the baseline, and hospitalization rates are two to three times the benchmark, signifying very high flu activity. Tsui emphasized the importance of public attention and urged people not to underestimate the flu's severity. He also expressed concern over the year-on-year decline in flu vaccination rates. The flu vaccination program launched last month administered over 900,000 doses, a 10 percent drop compared to the same period last year. Vaccination rates fell across all age groups, with notable declines in the 2-to-5 and 6-to-11 age brackets, as well as among the community elderly.",
  "summary": "Hong Kong is experiencing a prolonged summer flu season that shows no clear sign of abating, Centre for Health Protection controller Edwin Tsui said on Thursday. He said the flu season has already entered its 16th week. \"We roughly ended last year's flu season around week 18,\" Tsui said on an RTHK radio programme. \"Today, we are already nearly 16 weeks into the flu season and still see no clear…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "RTHK News",
        "title": "'Summer flu season to last longer than last year's'",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/summer-flu-season-to-last-longer-than-last-years-15994818",
        "published": "2026-10-22T03:20:41.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}