The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) on Wednesday said the number of flu cases was still on the rise and expected the flu season to last until March or April.

The CHP recorded about 200 serious or death cases involving adults since the start of the year, in which 65 percent of them were elderly people.

The controller of the CHP, Edwin Tsui, said the influenza A, sub-type H1, virus is currently circulating in Hong Kong.

"Many Hong Kong people travel abroad. We cannot focus only on the situation in the SAR, we also have to look into the influenza strains in other countries," he told an RTHK radio programme.

"Popular tourist destinations, like Japan, South Korea, Europe, North America and the mainland, are currently also having cases of influenza A (H1)."

Tsui expects the number of cases to continue rising, and urged people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

"It's the flu season for other countries in January every year. People travel abroad, and when they come back from their holidays, there may be outbreaks at schools and workplaces," he said.

He also urged people to go and see the doctor immediately if they are sick.

Speaking on the same programme, family doctor Lam Wing-wo said the number of appointments for flu vaccinations doubled after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Lam said about 20 people have made appointments for flu vaccines every day, and some belonged to the relatively low-risk age group of 18 to 50.

He said there is a sufficient supply of vaccines, and urged parents to bring their children to clinics for flu jabs.