Hygiene urged on public to ward off meningitis risk

A prominent paediatrician has urged people to maintain good personal hygiene, warning the public that sporadic cases of a life-threatening bacterial infection will continue to surface. Dr Mike Kwan, president of the Asian Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, made the remarks after the Centre for Health Protection reported on Friday that a three-year-old boy had contracted an invasive meningococcal infection. According to the centre, the toddler developed a fever and vomiting spell on March 17, a day before he was taken to Kwong Wah Hospital’s accident and emergency department the following day and warded. Health officials said he remains in a serious condition. Laboratory tests on samples of his blood and cerebrospinal fluid came back positive for meningococcus, with a clinical diagnosis of meningitis. Four cases have been recorded in Hong Kong so far this year. The centre is also monitoring developments with a recent outbreak of invasive meningococcal infections in Kent, England. Kwan noted that while such infections were very rare in Hong Kong, cases could show up sporadically. "I believe there will continue to be cases. On average, last year, there was about one case a month," he said on a radio programme on Saturday. "Relatively speaking, cases will keep appearing, but it also depends on environmental factors and whether there are group gatherings." Kwan pointed to a previous cluster as an example. "Last year, at a renovation site for a hospital, two workers were infected, showing that the disease can easily spread in the workplace if there is contact," he said. "That’s something everyone should be careful about." Symptoms can include fever and skin rashes, Kwan added. Kwan said he did not believe the case involving the three-year-old boy was linked to the cluster in the UK. "I believe it is not related to the UK cluster, and this indicates that in Hong Kong, we really have asymptomatic carriers of the meningococcal infection who make up around 10 percent of our population," he said. Edited by Robert Kemp