Jun 1, 2012 (CIDRAP News) - Hong Kong health officials raised the pandemic influenza response level from alert to serious today after one of the local hospitals confirmed an H5 infection in a boy from China\'s Guandong province.
In a statement, Hong Kong\'s Center for Health Protection (CHP) said the 2-year-old boy came down with a fever and runny nose on May 23 in Guangdong, where his parents and grandmother live. On May 26 he came to Hong Kong and was evaluated at a private clinic in Mong Kok.
Guangdong province, in southern China on the South China Sea coast, is about 90 miles from Hong Kong.
The boy had febrile convulsions and on May 28 was taken to the emergency department at Caritas Medical Centre, which admitted him for suspected encephalitis. A CHP spokesman said the boy\'s respiratory samples tested positive for H5 influenza and that more tests are underway to further characterize the virus, according to the CHP statement.
The boy is in stable condition, and investigators are exploring how he might have been exposed to the virus. The CHP said the patient\'s household contacts are asymptomatic.
The CHP is in close contact with mainland and hospital authorities to monitor the situation, according to the statement.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/jun0112kong-br.html
