The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) on August 6 announced that three new cases of chikungunya fever (CF) had been recorded. The total number of recorded cases to date is 4, all of which were imported cases, as of 5 pm yesterday.
The CHP will continue to strengthen its surveillance work in view of the recent CF cases. The CHP reminded members of the public to maintain strict environmental hygiene, mosquito control and personal protective measures both locally and when travelling outside Hong Kong. Avoiding mosquito bites and eliminating mosquito breeding sites are effective ways to prevent CF.
The Head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the CHP, Dr Albert Au, reminded members of the public to adopt precautions in the rainy season against mosquito-borne diseases. If members of the public return from areas affected by mosquito-borne diseases, they should apply insect repellent for 14 days upon arrival in Hong Kong. They should closely observe their personal health condition, in particular symptoms such as fever, joint pain and rash. If they feel unwell, they should seek medical advice promptly and provide their travel details to the doctor for clinical diagnosis and arrangement of appropriate testing based on an individual patient's condition. Members of the public are urged not to self-medicate, particularly with aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen), as these drugs may cause serious side effects, for example increasing the risk of haemorrhage. In general, children should not take medications containing aspirin to relieve fever or other symptoms, as it may lead to a serious and potentially fatal complication called "Reye's syndrome".
Despite severe or fatal cases caused by CF is rare and the symptoms are milder than that of Dengue Fever, and most patients recover on their own, as local mosquitoes have not carried the CF virus, the Government strives to prevent CF from becoming endemic in Hong Kong, and has adopted multi-pronged emergency preparedness, including strengthening public education and publicity, stepping up control measures at boundary control points, enhancing local testing capabilities, arranging mosquito-free environment for treatments, conducting epidemiological investigations and risk assessments for confirmed cases, intensifying mosquito prevention and control measures, etc. The Public Health Laboratory Services Branch of the CHP is equipped with sufficient testing capabilities. The CHP has, in collaboration with the Hospital Authority, further enhanced the local testing capabilities to ensure that in the event of an outbreak, suspected cases could be tested as soon as possible with an aim of early detection and diagnosis.
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