XN000022-1974-10-06 — Page 4

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1974

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DIPHTHERIA UNDER CONTROL IN HONG KONG

PARENTS URGED TO HELP KEEP RECORD CLEAN

IN

DIPHTHERIA IS NO LONGER A FRIGHTFUL WORD IN HONG KONG CONTRAST TO YEARS AGO WHEN THE DISEASE WAS PREVALENT BEFORE AND JUST AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN MORTALITY WAS HIGH AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 10.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S 'SILENT' TRIUMPHS IN THE FIELD OF PUBLIC HEALTH ABOUT WHICH LITTLE IS KNOWN.

ALSO RESPONSIBLE ARE PARENTS WHO SUPPORTED THE DEPARTMENT IN ALL ITS EFFORTS TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC IN THE NEED FOR IMMUNISATION, AND WHOSE CO-OPERATION REMAINS ESSENTIAL IF THE RECORD IS TO REMAIN CLEAN. THIS YEAR'S ANTI-DIPHTHERIA CAMPAIGN IS NOU UNDERWAY.

THE GREATEST NUMBER OF DEATHS RECORDED WAS 214 IN 1936. THE MOST SERIOUS EPIDEMIC OCCURRED IN 1959 WITH 2,087 CASES.

THE MARKED INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CASES AFTER THE VAR WAS DUE MAINLY TO THE LARGE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS WHICH MADE THE ENVIRONMENT MORE SUITABLE FOR THE SPREAD OF THE DISEASE. A PREFERENCE FOR CHINESE HERBAL TREATMENT CAUSED DELAY IN ADMISSION TO HOSPITAL, AND CONSEQUENTLY A HIGHER FATALITY RATE THAN WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE OCCURRED.

+FREE IMMUNISATION HAS BEEN AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC IN GOVERNMENT HEALTH CENTRES, CLINICS AND HOSPITALS AS EARLY AS 1946,+ A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY. +ANTI-DIPHTHERIA CAMPAIGNS WERE HELD YEARLY TO PROTECT VULNERABLE AGE GROUPS. THESE CAMPAIGNS WERE INTENSIFIED IN THE LATE 1950S AND EARLY SIXTIES.+

FIXED CENTRES AND MOBILE TEAMS WERE SET UP THROUGHOUT HONG KONG TO MAKE ANTI-DIPHTHERIA IMMUNISATION READILY AVAILABLE.

DOOR-TO-DOOR VISITS WERE CARRIED OUT IN CROUDED TENEMENT BLOCKS, HOUSING ESTATES, AND SQUATTER AREAS BY INOCULATORS AND HEALTH VISITORS TO ENSURE THAT INFANTS AND PRESCHOOL CHILDREN VERE IMMUNISED.

SPECIAL TEAMS OF HEALTH STAFF WERE SENT TO ALL PRIMARY SCHOOLS. TOYS AND SWEETS WERE GIVEN AS INCENTIVES TO ENCOURAGE VIDER ACCEPTANCE OF INOCULATION AMONG CHILDREN., TO DATE, MORE THAN 12 MILLION DOSES OF ANTI-DIPHTHERIA VACCINE HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE DEPARTMENT HAD ALSO TAKEN ENERGETIC MEASURES IN THE ISOLATION AND TREATMENT OF CASES, CONTROL AND TRACING OF CONTACTS, AND DETECTION OF CARRIERS.

/HEALTH EDUCATION.......