A Hong Kong primary school was closed Tuesday after a seven-year-old pupil died in hospital and 38 other students fell sick with flu.

Law Ho-ming was admitted to hospital with fever and flu symptoms and discharged, only to return two days later on Saturday. He fell into a coma and died Tuesday morning.

Thirty-eight fellow pupils at the Ho Yat Tung Primary School have fallen ill with flu and the school was Tuesday afternoon told by the government to close a week early for its Easter holiday because of the outbreak.

Law was readmitted to hospital on Saturday just 48 hours after being discharged following two days under observation. He quickly lapsed into a coma and was declared dead Tuesday morning.

On March 1, three-year-old Ho Po-yi died just hours after being sent home from Tuen Mun hospital after being taken in by her parents suffering from a high temperature and flu symptoms.

Doctors believe Law may have died of meningitis or a respiratory illness but the two cases have caused alarm among parents in the Tuen Mun district as the city hits the peak of its annual flu season.

Emergency units at hospitals say they are struggling to cope with the volume of parents bringing in children with flu symptoms as unfounded rumours spread that a deadly virus is in circulation.

Hong Kong saw the world's first modern-day outbreak of bird flu in 1997 when the virus infected 18 people, killing six of them. The former British colony has since been spared any major outbreaks.

In 2003, however, 299 people died and another 1,755 were infected when the SARS virus spread from China to the city of 6.9 million before going on to cause sporadic infections around the world.

Oops. http://en.rian.ru/world/20080311/101113024.html

Third child dies of 'flu' in Hong Kong

21:35

11/ 03/ 2008

SIANGAN (Hong Kong), March 11 (RIA Novosti) - A seven-year-old boy died in Hong Kong on Tuesday after being hospitalized late last week with a suspected strain of bird flu, national media said.

Law Ho-ming had had a fever and a persistent cough for about two weeks before being hospitalized on March 6. He was later discharged, but rushed to the emergency department at Tuen Mun Hospital on March 8. The boy lapsed into a coma and was subsequently diagnosed as suffering from swelling of the brain.

The first postmortem tests have so far proved negative for influenza, however.

Another two children had earlier died several hours after being admitted to hospital in Hong Kong after displaying similar symptoms.

The Hong Kong authorities have instructed a team of microbiologists to attempt to determine the reasons behind the deaths.

Another 38 children from Law's school have also been diagnosed with similar flu-like symptoms. The school has now been closed a week ahead of the spring holidays.

The local Center for Health Protection said the amount of flu cases had not so far exceeded the usual seasonal figures. However, medics have recommended that school authorities cancel classes so as not to endanger children.

National media has quoted some doctors as saying the disease responsible for the deaths of the three children could be a strain of bird flu, which has so far killed 235 people out of 371 confirmed cases worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Six people out of a total of 18 residents infected with bird flu died in Hong Kong in 1997 when the first outbreak was reported in the former British colony.

Although no cases of human-to-human transmission of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu have been reported, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a strain that could pass easily between people, causing a global pandemic.

Between 50 and 100 million people died from so-called Spanish flu from 1918 to 1920. This is higher than the total amount of deaths in World War I. Recent evidence suggests the disease may have jumped from birds to humans.

HK schools close amid flu fears

Hong Kong family wearing masks to protect them from bird flu

Hong Kong families are taking protective measures

All kindergartens and junior schools in Hong Kong have closed early for their Easter holiday, after a flu-like illness killed three children.

The Education Bureau described the move as a "precautionary measure".

More than 30 students from one school have showed flu-like symptoms and three children have died from apparently similar illnesses in recent weeks.

Experts are investigating a link to either bird flu or Sars, a respiratory disease that hit Hong Kong in 2003.

Hong Kong's health chief, York Chow, said the decision to close the schools was made as the high rate of flu-like infections was expected to continue for weeks.

"We hope such precautionary measures will help reduce the cross-infection of the flu virus in schools and the community," China's state news agency, Xinhua, quoted him as saying.

'Very concerned'

Over the weekend seven-year-old Law Ho-ming was admitted to hospital in a semi-conscious state, suffering from fever and flu.

He died on Tuesday from encephalitis and swelling of the brain.

Five of his fellow students from the Ho Yat Tung Primary School remain in hospital and more than 30 others are displaying flu-like symptoms.

Government medical officers brought forward the Easter holiday at the school by 10 days - before deciding to close all other primary schools and kindergartens.

The school closure is the first caused by illness since 2003, when almost 300 people died from Sars, says the BBC's Vaudine England in Hong Kong.

Concerns have also been raised about two other recent child deaths from flu, our correspondent says.

A two-year-old boy died in February and a three-year-old girl died on 1 March from what appeared to be a variant of bird flu.

Official records show that people in 25 other schools, a hospital ward and a disabled residential home are suffering from outbreaks of flu.

The government has set up an expert team led by a University of Hong Kong microbiologist to identify the illnesses in question and assess the risk posed to the territory.

Experts say there is no reason yet to fear a major flu outbreak, but admit they do not yet know what caused the deaths of three young children.

I’ve seen some articles on this. Apparently, they are concerned about a resurgence of SARS or an H5N1 transition to human flu.

The flus so far have tested out to be H1 or H3 according to published reports, but the concern is how serious the outbreaks are. With the Olympics coming up soon, and Hong Kong (where bird flu first appeared) not too far away from these flu affected areas, there is worry.

Schools are closing early for spring break, and will remain closed for 2 weeks in order to try to bring this to a halt.

No firm information at this point, at least in what I’ve read, about what kind of bug is loose here.

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