January 22, 2006

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December 08, 2015

Beijing issued its first red alert for smog on Monday night as the capital was hit by hazardous levels of pollution for the second time within a week.

The alert – the highest in a four-level system – will be in place from 7am on Tuesday until noon on Thursday.

April 25, 2015

Research over 13 years shows a link between fine particles and increased death rates

A groundbreaking tracker study offers evidence for the first time that the fine suspended particles known as PM2.5 lead to a higher death rate among elderly people in the city.

September 21, 2015

AIR CONTAMINATED WITH pollutants such as ozone and tiny particles could cause the premature death of about 6.6 million people a year by 2050 if nothing is done to improve air quality, scientists warned.

In a study published in the journal Nature, they found that outdoor air pollution already kills about 3.3 million people a year worldwide. The majority of those deaths are in Asia where residential energy emissions, such as those from heating and cooking, have a huge impact. And that toll could double over the next 35 years. 

June 04, 2015

Scientists suspect that poor hospital ventilation may have contributed to the rapid spread of MERS in Korea.

Bad ventilation alone would hardly explain the catastrophic spread seen in the hospital, says Christian Drosten, a virologist at the University of Bonn in Germany. But if there was bad ventilation plus a patient shedding a greater than usual amount of the virus, it could make a difference.

February 23, 2015

The recent influenza statistics have alarmed many people. Since the outbreak started eight weeks ago, the government has so far tallied 352 severe cases and 254 deaths.

Purchase an air purifier. We spend significantly more time indoors in the winter months. And most people will close the windows in their homes and offices, harboring allergens and influenza viruses in the poorly ventilated rooms. "Air purifiers can circulate and clean the air in a room several times an hour.

January 13, 2015

The air quality in Hong Kong has always been a concern of local residents.  If the living environment is cramped and there are sources of pollutants in close neighbourhood, like smoking or construction works, indoor air quality at home is even more worrying.  Therefore, some families would buy an air cleaner for a breath of clean air at home.

February 24, 2015

Five health-care workers are in quarantine after they treated an H7N9 bird flu patient without full protective gear.

Twelve other people in close contact with the man - including a relative and patients who were in the same ward and private clinic he attended in Aberdeen - are also in quarantine at the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung. They will be treated with antiviral drug Tamiflu for five days and the Centre for Health Protection is monitoring their condition. The health of 99 others - relatives, hospital and clinic staff and the patient's colleagues - who came into contact with the man is being monitored. 

February 22, 2015

Medical personnel are bracing for a surge of patients at public hospitals, many with flu symptoms over the next few days.

Hospital Authority chief executive Leung Pak-yin said yesterday that the number of people at accident and emergency units had risen for two days and could increase even further with the end of the Lunar New Year holiday. Speaking after visiting the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern and Princess Margaret hospitals, Leung said about 4,000 people went to A&E departments on Thursday, the first day of Lunar New Year. It was over 6,400 by Saturday. 

February 17, 2015

Another 18 people died of the H3N2 flu virus yesterday, bringing the toll in the outbreak to 228 Centre for Health Protection controller Leung Ting-hung said it was the most to die of flu in a single day. Leung said there were 22 new cases among adults, bringing the total to 322. Of these, 306 have contracted the H3N2 strain. 

January 11, 2015

The Rise of H3N2

Ebola may have made its mark in 2014, but influenza is dominating in early 2015. Having been already declared an epidemic by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), this year’s flu season has led to the death of 26 children and has spread across 46 out of 50 states as of January 9th. While the increase in flu activity and hospitalizations reflect a typical flu season’s cycle, officials have warned that this flu season in particular will be worse than others. 

January 07, 2015

Doctors forced to work 24-hour shifts with packed intensive care units now almost at capacity

Intensive care units in Hong Kong hospitals are close to breaking point as they struggle to cope with a major flu outbreak that has exposed worrying staff shortages across the city's public health-care system. 

January 02, 2015

B.C. Centre for Disease Control says long-term care facilities being hit particularly hard

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is reporting a "sharp increase" in the number of influenza cases. Epidemiologist Dr. Danuta Skowronski said the outbreak is consistent with a mutated H3N2 season, a flu virus that Skowronski described as "particularly nasty" and from which this year's flu vaccine does not offer full protection.