Killer flu in Hong Kong not bird flu

The deaths of three children in Hong Kong from a virulent form of influenza has forced health officials to close all of the district's elementary schools.

The outbreak has caused alarm despite the government's insistence that SARS or bird flu is not implicated.

The World Health Organization has also confirmed that the outbreak appears to just be the common flu.

The concern over the outbreak and the three deaths has nevertheless prompted many to don face masks when they venture out in public to protect themselves.

More than 550,000 children are currently out of school because of the outbreak and as yet it has not been announced when the schools will reopen.

Pictures in the media of people wearing face masks, locked school gates and temperature tests are redolent of the SARS outbreak in 2003 which killed 299 people.

While the SARS crisis has not returned the seven-year-old boy who died on Tuesday of a respiratory infection was the third child to die of flu-like symptoms in the last two weeks.

Of the school's 700 students 35 have fallen ill with flu-like illnesses and six of them have been hospitalised.

Investigations into the exact cause of death of the children are still ongoing but authorities say are taking no chances and closing the schools had more to do with soothing the anxiety of parents than an impending health crisis.

Other measures employed involve the shortening of visiting hours for acutely-ill patients in public hospitals, daily announcements of outbreaks and a public education campaign.

Infection control measures at hospitals have also been upgraded as Hong Kong is in the midst of the peak flu season.

Thomas Tsang the controller of the Centre for Health Protection however says there is no evidence at this stage that the flu season was any worse than in the past two years.

Critics say health officials have failed to learn lessons from the SARS outbreak and preventive measures should have been taken earlier.