Medical experts in Hong Kong are puzzled by a mystery illness affecting children. Doctors at the Caritas Medical Centre in Kowloon say two of 30 admitted patients have signs of respiratory tract infection while six of were suffering from fever. “Infection-control measures have been stepped up at the hospital, and medical staff at laboratories in the Centre for Health Protection, local universities and the Department of Health are conducting tests to identify the source of the virus,” said Hospital Authority Chief Executive William Ho, who visited the patients yesterday. Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok refused to say if the mystery illness was a new virus. He said it “could be related” to an existing disease which is prone to attacking children and patients with weaker immunity. Health officials placed a “green” code warning around the hospital in the Sham Shui Po district and isolated the ward.
