TB&CS announces tuberculosis notification in educational institutions in first half of 2024

The Tuberculosis and Chest Service (TB&CS) of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) announced today (Aug. 30) the tuberculosis (TB) notification in educational institutions in the first half of 2024.

The CHP urges the public, especially the school stakeholders, including school management, students, and parents, to maintain personal and environmental hygiene to prevent TB infections.

The DH received 1,634 notifications of TB cases (provisional figure) from January to June 2024, among which 43 cases were aged 3 to 24 (usual school age), accounting for 2.63 percent of the total notified cases in the same period. The corresponding proportion of TB cases for the above age group in the first half of 2022 and 2023 was 3.74 percent and 3.00 percent, respectively. ​For TB in the school setting in Hong Kong, no TB clusters were found from January to June 2024.

"Early identification of TB cases and prompt initiation of anti-TB treatment remain the mainstay of TB control. While the TB notification rate in Hong Kong has consistently decreased in the past few decades, TB remains a relatively common disease in Hong Kong. The DH has all along promoted awareness of TB and its prevention in schools, the community, and the healthcare sector to facilitate early identification, diagnosis, and effective control of the disease at its source," a spokesman for the DH said.

The spokesman explained that TB is an airborne disease. When a TB patient coughs or sneezes, small droplets containing the tubercle bacilli are generated and spread in the air. If another person breathes in these small airborne droplets, he or she may be infected with the germ. Prolonged exposure, however, is usually the most important condition for the disease to be effectively transmitted.

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