XN000022-1975-06-10 — Page 2

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TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 1975

HEPATITIS: PERSONAL AND FOOD HYGIENE, KEY TO PREVENTING SPREAD OF THE DISEASE

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THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS HEPATITIS IS CAUSED BY PERSON TO PERSON CONTACT OR CONTAMINATED FOOD AND DRINK.

THIS WAS STATED BY THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES (HEALTH), DR. S.H. LEE, IN A TALK TO THE ROTARY CLUB OF KOWLOON EAST THIS AFTERNOON.

HE EXPLAINED THAT THE DISEASE IS CAUSED BY A VIRUS DESIGNATED AS VIRUS A PRESENT IN FAECAL MATTERS.

+A POTENTIALLY INFECTIOUS PERSON MAY CARRY THE VIRUS HIMSELF AND SPREAD THE DISEASE TO OTHERS IF HE NEGLECTED PERSONAL AND FOOD HYGIENE,+ HE SAID.

ANY ITEM OF FOOD OR DRINK IS THEREFORE SUBJECT TO CONTAMINA- TION BY FAECAL MATTERS, AND THIS APPLIES TO ALL KINDS OF FOOD INCLUDING SHELLFISH WHICH IS LIABLE TO POLLUTION BY SEWAGE, HE ADDED.

HE SAID OUTBREAKS OF INFECTIOUS HEPATITIS HAVE OCCURRED IN EUROPE AND PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA FOLLOWING THE CONSUMPTION OF CERTAIN FORMS OF SHELLFISH TAKEN FROM CONTAMINATED SEAWATER.

HOWEVER, A WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION PUBLICATION HAS STATED THAT +ALTHOUGH THERE IS A STRONG EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE CONSUMPTION OF POLLUTED SHELLFISH AND INFECTIOUS HEPATITIS, THE CAUSATIVE ORGANISM HAS NOT BEEN ISOLATED FROM SUCH INCIDENTS+.

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ON BALANCE, SAID DR. LEE, THE DISEASE IS SPREAD LARGELY THROUGH PERSON TO PERSON CONTÁCT BY WAY OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE FAECAL-ORAL ROUTE, WHICH IS THE CHIEF MODE OF TRANSMISSION ACCOUNTING FOR MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OF HEPATITIS CASES IN HONG KONG.

IN THE CASE OF POLLUTED SHELLFISH, HE SAID, THE RISK OF CONTRACTING THE DISEASE WOULD BE GREATLY REDUCED IF THE SHELLFISH WAS HYGIENICALLY HANDLED IN THE PROCESS OF FOOD PREPARATION AND EATEN ONLY AFTER IT WAS THOROUGHLY COOKED.

DR. LEE SAID IN TEMPERATE ZONES THE INCIDENCE OF INFECTIOUS HEPATITIS IS TWO TO THREE TIMES HIGHER DURING AUTUMN AND WINTER THAN DURING SPRING AND SUMMER.

IN HONG KONG OUR PAST EXPERIENCE WAS THAT THE DISEASE TENDED TO INCREASE IN INCIDENCE IN LATE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER WHEN OTHER GASTRO-INTESTINAL DISEASES WERE ALSO ON THE INCREASE, HE SAID,

/DR. LEE SAID