XN000022-1979-12-24 — Page 2

MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1979

ANTI-POLIO PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN

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THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT IS TO EXTEND THE ANTI-POLIO IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME TO COVER THE PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID THE EXTENDED PROGRAMME WAS AIMED AT INCREASING THE IMMUNITY OF CHILDREN AGAINST THIS VIRAL DISEASE.

HE APPEALED TO PARENTS TO CO-OPERATE BY BRINGING THEIR CHILDREN TO THE DEPARTMENT'S MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CENTRES FOR THE ORAL VACCINE.

MOBILE INOCULATION TEAMS FROM THE DEPARTMENT ARE ALSO VISITING SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT HONG KONG TO ADMINISTER ORAL VACCINE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT ALTHOUGH POLIOMYELITIS HAS BEEN NON-EXISTENT FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS, RESULTS OF SEROLOGICAL SURVEYS BY THE DEPARTMENT SHOWED THAT THE HERD IMMUNITY IN HONG KONG WAS GETTING LOW AND CHILDREN WERE BECOMING MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THIS INFECTION.

UNDER THE PRESENT IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME, A NEWLY BORN BABY IS GIVEN ORAL POLIO VACCINE WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF BIRTH, THEN THE SECOND AND THIRD DOSES IN EIGHT WEEKS' INTERVAL WHEN HE IS THREE TO FIVE MONTHS OLD. A BOOSTER DOSE IS THEN ADMINISTERED ONE YEAR LATER.

WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF AN EXTENDED PROGRAMME CHILDREN BETWEEN SEVEN AND 12 ARE GIVEN TWO ADDITIONAL BOOSTER DOSES IN ORDER THAT THEIR HERD IMMUNITY COULD BE STRENGTHENED.

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 WAS 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 AND THE LAST CASE WAS REPORTED IN AUGUST 1973.

THE SPOKESMAN WARNED, HOWEVER, THAT THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR COMPLACENCY.

+ALL PREVENTIVE AND CONTROL MEASURES MUST CONTINUE IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A HIGH LEVEL OF IMMUNITY AMONG CHILDREN AGAINST THIS DISEASE, HE SAID,

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