UK meningitis outbreak spurs Easter alert on returnees

The Department of Health says health screening will be stepped up ahead of the Easter holiday, following a recent meningitis outbreak in Kent, England. Health officials said precautionary measures would be taken during the upcoming Easter break, when many Hong Kong students studying in the UK were expected to return home. Speaking on Saturday, Centre for Health Protection controller Edwin Tsui said that while invasive meningococcal infection was a statutorily notifiable disease in Hong Kong, tracing the source for a case remained challenging. He pointed out that the four such infections recorded in the city so far this year were unrelated. Authorities, he added, are closely monitoring travellers returning for the Easter holiday. "For students and people arriving at the airport, if they have a fever, breathing difficulties or other symptoms, we will monitor to see if it is that infection. If it is, we will follow up," Tsui said. Health officials, he stressed, have shared information about the outbreak with SAR students attending schools in the UK through the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. Director of Health Ronald Lam said the main symptoms of an invasive meningococcal infection include fever, severe headaches and the possible appearance of skin spots. He urged the public to maintain good personal hygiene and highlighted vaccination as an effective preventative measure. According to the latest data monitored by the Centre for Health Protection, at least 29 cases, including two deaths, have been reported in the UK. In Hong Kong, one of the four cases recorded so far this year involved a three-year-old boy. Edited by Thomas McAlinden