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THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1976.
RESPONSE TO IMMUNISATION PLEA MOST ENCOURAGING
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SOME 9,000 CHILDREN HAVE BEEN IMMUNIZED AGAINST MEASLES DURING JULY AND THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST.
OF THESE, 2,151 WERE INOCULATED ON HONG KONG ISLAND, 4,251 IN KOWLOON AND 2,230 IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT DESCRIBED THE PUBLIC RESPONSE TO RECENT APPEALS FOR IMMUNIZATION AGAINST THE DISEASE AS +MOST ENCOURAGING+.
HOWEVER, HE SAID THERE WERE STILL A LARGE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO REMAINED SUSCEPTIBLE TO MEASLES.
HE AGAIN URGED PARENTS TO ENSURE THAT THEIR CHILDREN, PARTICULARLY THOSE BETWEEN NINE MONTHS AND FIVE YEARS OF AGE, ARE VACCINATED AGAINST THE HIGHLY INFECTIOUS DISEASE.
HE SAID ONE SINGLE INJECTION COULD GIVE LONG-LASTING PROTECTION.
HE REMINDED THE PUBLIC THAT FREE VACCINE WAS AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AT ALL THE DEPARTMENT'S MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CENTRES.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE INCIDENCE OF MEASLES CONTINUED TO BE HIGH IN JULY WITH A TOTAL OF 269 CASES COMPARED WITH 260 IN JUNE.
SIX CHILDREN HAVE DIED SO FAR THIS YEAR AS A RESULT OF THE DISEASE.
THE SPOKESMAN WARNED THAT ALTHOUGH MEASLES IS NOT ITSELF FATAL, THE DISEASE COULD CAUSE COMPLICATIONS SUCH AS MIDDLE-EAR
INFECTION, BRONCHITIS AND ENCEPHALITIS.
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