Useful Information

Practical tips to prevent respiratory tract infection include:

• Adopting healthy lifestyles can enhance immunity
• Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene (wear a mask properly at appropriate times, perform hand hygiene frequently, keep household clean, maintain good indoor ventilation)
• Observe cough manner (cover your mouth and nose with tissue paper when coughing or sneezing. Dispose of soiled tissues into a lidded rubbish bin, then wash hands thoroughly)
• Receive the This link will open in a new windowrelevant vaccinations in accordance with Government recommendations (such as Seasonal Influenza vaccine, COVID-19 Vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine etc)
• When having respiratory symptoms, refrain from work or attending class at school, avoid going to crowded places, wear a surgical mask and seek medical advice promptly

Members of the public should take precautions and avoid close physical contact with persons or animals suspected of contracting Mpox. They should seek medical attention as soon as possible if they experience symptoms of Mpox, including rash, fever, intense headache, sore throat, myalgia and lymphadenopathy.

The This link will open in a new windowMpox Vaccination Programme for high-risk groups commences on 5 October 2022, the high-risk target groups of Hong Kong residents can receive Mpox vaccination on a voluntary basis.

The disease is most contagious during the first week of the illness and the viruses can be found in stool for weeks. It mainly spreads by contact with an infected person’s nose or throat discharges, saliva, fluid from vesicles or stool, or after touching contaminated objects.

For details, please refer to the factsheet of This link will open in a new windowHand, Foot and Mouth Disease and This link will open in a new windowEnterovirus 71 Infection.

Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines (both small and large). Viral gastroenteritis is an infection caused by a variety of viruses which occurs more commonly during cooler months of the year. The most common viruses that cause gastroenteritis are norovirus and rotavirus.

The main symptoms of viral gastroenteritis are diarrhoea and vomiting. Other symptoms include headache, fever, and abdominal cramps. In general, the symptoms begin 1 – 2 days following infection with a virus that causes gastroenteritis. Depending on the type of viruses causing the illness, however, the symptoms may last for 1 – 10 days.

As a general measure to prevent gastroenteritis, members of the public are advised to maintain good personal hygiene, food hygiene and environmental hygiene.

For details, please refer to the factsheet of This link will open in a new windowNorovirus infection and This link will open in a new windowRotavirus infection.

Antibiotics, a type of antimicrobial, are medications used for treating bacterial infection. When antibiotics wipe out disease-causing bacteria in our body, normal bacteria are also killed, thereby increasing the opportunity for resistant bacteria to grow and multiply. These resistant bacteria are sometimes referred to as ‘superbugs’. Some superbugs are capable of resisting more than one antibiotic causing infections difficult to treat. Although there may be non-first-line antibiotics available, they may be less effective or cause more side effects. Moreover, AMR develops at a fast rate than the development of new medicines. If the problem of AMR does not improve, there would be fewer effective treatment options.

To combat antimicrobial resistance, members of the public should follow your doctor’s advice when taking antibiotics; do not demand antibiotics from your doctor; do not stop taking antibiotics by yourselves even if you are feeling better; practise frequent hand hygiene, especially before eating and taking medicine, and after going to the toilet; ensure your vaccination is up-to-date; and maintain cough etiquette, wear a surgical mask if you have respiratory symptoms.