29 September 2014
The Controller of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health (DH), Dr Leung Ting-hung, called on the public to take necessary preventive measures to guard against dengue fever (DF) after the meeting of the Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee on Mosquito-borne Diseases today (September 29).
Before the rainy season this year, the committee held a meeting in May to review the regular mosquito prevention measures and anti-mosquito work of each government bureau, departments and organisation. In the meeting today, representatives of various government bureau, departments and organisation examined the epidemiology of mosquito-borne diseases, especially DF, and reaffirmed that effective anti-mosquito work will continue to be carried out.
DF is a common mosquito-borne disease in Hong Kong. A total of 505 cases of DF were recorded in Hong Kong from 2004 to 2013 with no death cases. In 2014, there have been 68 confirmed cases, which were all imported cases.
DF activities in neighbouring areas are at high levels. As of September, there were 10 743 cases of DF in Guangdong while 3 178 and eight cases have been recorded in Taiwan and Macau respectively. Meanwhile, 59 943, 25 376, 72 603, 15 379 and 247 cases have been recorded in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan respectively. In Indonesia, 5 528 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever were recorded up until the end of March this year.
"DF is an endemic disease in most Southeast Asian countries. Members of the public travelling to these places are advised to protect themselves against mosquitoes all year round. At present, no effective vaccine for DF is available. Therefore, the best preventive measures are to eliminate pockets of stagnant water that serve as breeding sites for mosquitoes and to avoid mosquito bites," Dr Leung said.
Travellers should take the following preventive measures against DF:
Anyone feeling unwell after returning from a trip should seek medical advice as soon as possible and provide travel details to their doctor.
Members of the public should avoid the accumulation of stagnant water by:
The latest information on DF in other places can be found under "Travel Health News" on the Hong Kong Travel Health Service website at www.travelhealth.gov.hk/eindex.html .
Travel agents, tour guides and travellers can visit the website for the latest news and advice on preventive measures.
More information on mosquito control can be found on the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's website at www.fehd.gov.hk/english/safefood/handbook_prev_mos_breeding.html .