Press Releases

SFH on human swine flu

Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a stand-up media session after attending a radio programme this morning (May 9):

Reporter: Dr Chow, a top UN official Kenji Fukuda earlier warned Asian governments that this virus could change and could infect a third of the population in the world. What is your response to it?

Secretary for Food and Health: There is always a potential for any virus to mutate and change over a period of time, particularly with a repeated transmission. We know that this is a virus originated from pigs, and it is able to transmit from humans to pigs now from the report of Canada. So this repeated transmission can always generate changes in the genetic components within the virus. But at least for the present time, various experts from CDC, WHO and our own Hong Kong experts have found that this virus is relatively stable. As this is relatively stable, we have time to investigate the treatment and develop vaccine for this virus, and we are able to refine our strategy in dealing with the transmission and treatment of patients as well. That is a more positive side of it. The negative side is that it seems that we cannot stop the transmission of this virus in the same way as stopping influenza in our usual seasonal influenza pattern. So this is something that we have to expect which might happen.

Reporter: The medication of the Mexican patient we have released was Tamiflu. Does it mean that Tamiflu is supposed an efficient medication?

Secretary for Food and Health: We have done research on the virus isolated from this patient. It is sensitive to both Tamiflu and Relenza. For treatment of this patient, I think he is responding quite well to Tamiflu alone, so there is actually no need to give him Relenza.

(Please also refer to the Chinese session of the transcript)


Ends/Saturday, May 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 10:59

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