6
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1981
POLIO CLAIMS ONE LIFE
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POLIOMYELITIS, A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE AMONG CHILDREN THAT HAS BEEN NON-EXISTENT IN HONG KONG FOR SEVEN YEARS SINCE 1973, HAS REARED ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN.
FIVE CHILDREN, ALL UNDER THREE YEARS OLD HAVE CONTRACTED THE DISEASE IN THE PAST 20 MONTHS WITH ONE FATALITY.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT POINTED OUT THAT ALL FIVE VICTIMS HAVE NOT COMPLETED THE FULL COURSE OF
IMMUNISATION AGAINST THE DISEASE.
HE ADVISED THE PUBLIC THAT THE BEST PREVENTIVE METHOD FOR POL IOMYELITIS IS TO VACCINATE ALL NEWBORNS.
HE URGED PARENTS TO COOPERATE BY BRINGING THEIR CHILDREN TO THE DEPARTMENT'S FAMILY HEALTH CENTRES FOR THE ORAL VACCINE IF THEY HAVE NOT DONE SO AND TO ENSURE THAT THEY COMPLETE THE FULL COURSE.
UNDER THE PRESENT IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME, A NEWBORN BABY IS GIVEN ORAL POLIO VACCINE WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF BIRTH, A SECOND DOSE WHEN HE IS TWO TO FOUR MONTHS OLD, A THIRD DOSE WHEN FOUR TO SIX MONTHS OLD, AND A BOOSTER DOSE AT THE AGE OF ONE AND A HALF YEARS.
AN EXTENDED VACCINATION PROGRAMME WAS INTRODUCED BY THE DEPARTMENT TWO YEARS AGO TO STRENGTHEN CHILDREN'S IMMUNITY AGAINST THE DISEASE WHEREBY CHILDREN ARE GIVEN TWO ADDITIONAL BOOSTER DOSE AT PRIMARY ONE AND PRIMARY SIX.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT BECAUSE POLIOMYELITIS HAD DISAPPEARED FOR A LONG TIME, THE HERD IMMUNITY IN HONG KONG WAS GETTING LOW WITH CHILDREN BECOMING MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO INFECTION.
POLIO IS LARGELY A DISEASE OF CHILDREN, IN HONG KONG, 93.1 PER CENT OF THE CASES IN THE PAST OCCURRED IN CHILDREN UNDER 15. THE ONE TO FOUR AGE GROUP IS MOST VULNERABLE, ACCOUNTING FOR TWO-THIRDS OF THE CASES.
THE DISEASE FIRST BECAME NOTIFIABLE IN HONG KONG IN JULY 1948. THE INCIDENCE OF POLIO REACHED ITS PEAK IN 1962 WITH 363 CASES RESULTING IN 52 DEATHS. POLIO IN THAT YEAR RANKED FOURTH IN THE MAJOR CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG COMMUNICABLE DISEASES,
WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE ORAL VACCINE TO HONG KONG IN 1963, POLIO WAS PUT UNDER CONTROL.