Dengue fever transmission risk is moderate: CHP

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Wednesday that the risk of local transmission of dengue fever is moderate, after the SAR logged its first local case this year. On an RTHK radio programme, the CHP's communicable disease branch head Albert Au said the other 12 cases recorded so far this year involved people catching the illness outside the city. “With the rise in temperatures and the rainy season approaching, such an environment is favourable for mosquito breeding. Moreover, the infection rate for mosquito-borne diseases in Southeast Asia and neighbouring regions remains high. So we think the risk of an outbreak cannot be neglected,” he said. “But so far, the overall risk is still preventable and manageable.” He went on to say that various government departments will continue their monitoring work and carry out preventative and control measures. A 21-year-old man is believed to have caught dengue fever after being bitten by mosquitoes at a construction site in Penny's Bay, Au said. The man is in a stable condition in hospital. Au said the CHP has advised the operator of the construction site to suspend work there until mosquito control measures are carried out. Meanwhile, Hong Kong has seen five measles cases this year, Au said. On top of a local case, two infections are linked to Indonesia, he said, and the remaining two are connected to one of these imported cases. Au noted that the city’s two-dose measles vaccination rate has remained consistently high at above 95 percent, and annual tests also show that people across different age groups are highly immune to measles. Therefore there is a relatively low risk of an outbreak in Hong Kong, Au said. Edited by Thomas McAlinden