The health authorities of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province urged schools to take precautions to guard against influenza after more than 30 students came down with the virus in one school in the past week.

The flu generally prevails in March and children are most vulnerable, spokeswoman for the Shenzhen Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Jiang Lijuan, said yesterday.

The recent outbreak was reported at Nanshan Second Foreign Language School, where 33 students, or 70 percent of a Grade 6 class, came down with flu, vice principal of the school, Li Nuhuan, said yesterday.

The school had text-messaged parents about the outbreak, asking them to keep an eye on their children’s physical condition and take them to hospital if they fall ill.

Outpatient clinics at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital and Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital had reported a 30 percent rise in suspected flu cases during the week.

“Patients who caught colds numbered 200 a day in recent days, almost 50 more per day than in February,” said Doctor Wang of Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital.

But Jiang told people not to panic as the seasonal flu outbreak was similar to the previous year.

On Monday, Guangzhou’s respiratory diseases research center chief Zhong Nanshan warned of a possible mutation of the avian flu virus.

In Hong Kong, Tuen Mun Hospital confirmed Law Ho-ming, a 7-year-old boy, died yesterday. The boy was taken to the hospital Thursday after coughing for a week and having a fever for two days.

Earlier, a 3-year-old Hong Kong girl, Ho Po-yi, was infected with the H3N2 flu virus and died March 1.

On Monday, outbreaks of flu were reported in nine Hong Kong schools involving 51 students. (By Han Ximin)