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June 7, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Hong Kong Flu Strain Causes Illness in Texas"

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (06/06/02)

The Texas Department of Health (TDH) reported Thursday that several hundred children in Texas--including those in Austin, Galveston, Houston, and El Paso--have been infected with a rare strain of the influenza virus, Hong Kong type B, that was not included in the last round of influenza vaccines.  Doctors in Texas are not required to report influenza cases, so exact figures are unknown.  The rare virus, last seen in the United States in 1991, is also late in arriving to Texas, which usually experiences influenza outbreaks between October and May, noted TDH epidemiologist Neil Pascoe.  The last case of Hong Kong type B flu was confirmed on May 28, and the strain will be included in the next flu vaccine, Pascoe said.

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