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The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH) today (August 5) urged the public to take preventive measures against mosquito-transmitted diseases following confirmation of a case of Japanese encephalitis (JE).
A spokesman for the CHP said that a 6-year-old girl living in Yuen Long developed fever and vomiting on July 22. The girl was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital on July 26 due to fever and confusion. She is now in stable condition.
Results of laboratory analysis on her blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples available today showed that they tested positive for JE, a viral disease transmitted by the bite of infective mosquitoes. The patient had no recent travel history. Her four home contacts have not shown any symptoms of JE so far and have been put under medical surveillance. Further investigation is in progress.
This is the first JE case reported to the CHP this year. No case was reported in the past three years and two imported cases were reported in 2007.
The CHP has conducted home visits and surveys in the neighbourhood of the patient's residence for active case finding and arranging blood tests. Health talks have been arranged.
The spokesman said JE is transmitted by Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Culicine mosquitoes), which breed mainly in waterlogged fields, marshes, ditches and small stable collections of water around cultivated fields. The mosquito becomes infected after biting pigs and wild birds infected with the JE virus.
Mild infections with JE may occur without apparent symptoms other than fever with headache. More severe infection is marked by quick onset of headache, high fever, neck stiffness, impaired mental state, coma, tremors, occasional convulsions and paralysis.
To prevent JE, members of the public, in particular those living in rural areas, are reminded to take the following personal protection measures, particularly after dark:
* Wear long-sleeved clothes and trousers;
* Use insect repellent over exposed parts of the body when outdoors; and
* Use mosquito screens or nets when the room is not air-conditioned.
People travelling to endemic areas should take proper precautionary measures, which include the following:
* Avoid outdoor exposure to mosquito bites at dusk and dawn, especially in rural areas;
* Apply effective insect repellents with DEET to exposed parts of their bodies; and
* Consider vaccination that should be completed at least 10 days before departure to endemic areas in Asia or the Western Pacific or staying over one month particularly in rural areas that bear higher risks.
The CHP has set up a hotline (2125 1122), operating from 7pm to 10pm tonight and from 9am to 5pm over this weekend and the following weekdays, for public enquiries. Residents living in Yuen Long District with symptoms of JE are advised to seek medical advice. Details of the preventive measures against JE are available in the CHP's website (www.chp.gov.hk) and the DH's Hong Kong Travel Health Service website (www.travelhealth.gov.hk).
Ends/Friday, August 5, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:30
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