XN000022-1980-10-17 — Page 3

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1980

NOTE TO EDITORS:

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO COVER THE YUEN LONG DISTRICT ANTI-NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN OPENING CEREMONY TO BE HELD ON SUNDAY (OCTOBER 19) AT 11 AM AT YUEN LONG STADIUM.

A GOVERNMENT VEHICLE WILL LEAVE KOWLOON PUBLIC PIER AT 9.15 AM TO TAKE THE PRESS TO THE STADIUM. MR DONALD STRANGE OF THE NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION PRESS UNIT WILL BE PRESENT TO HELP MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST GERMAN MEASLES

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GIRLS BETWEEN 11 AND 14 ARE ADVISED TO TAKE EARLY PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST GERMAN MEASLES BY COMING FORWARD FOR VACCINATION.

RUBELLA, COMMONLY CALLED GERMAN MEASLES, IS A VIRUS INFECTION. IF A WOMAN IN HER EARLY PREGNANCY IS AFFECTED BY THIS DISEASE, SHE MAY GIVE BIRTH TO BABIES WITH CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES, SUCH AS DEAFNESS, BLINDNESS, HEART AND BRAIN DEFECTS.

HOWEVER, INOCULATION AT THE EARLY AGE CAN PRODUCE MAXIMUM PREVENTIVE EFFECT. BY THE TIME THE GIRLS REACH THE REPRODUCTIVE AGE, THEY WILL HAVE DEVELOPED IMMUNITY AGAINST THE DISEASE,+ A SPOKESMAN FOR THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT SAID.

TO PREVENT OUTBREAKS OF RUBELLA, THE DEPARTMENT IS LAUNCHING AN ANTI-RUBELLA VACCINATION PROGRAMME AMONG SCHOOLS.

MOBILE INOCULATION TEAMS FROM THE DEPARTMENT HAVE BEEN VISITING SCHOOLS SINCE MID-OCTOBER TO INOCULATE GIRLS IN THIS AGE GROUP.

+A SINGLE DOSE INJECTION WILL SAFEGUARD GIRLS FROM THIS RISK, + THE SPOKESMAN SAID.

APART FROM DISTRIBUTING AN INFORMATIVE LEAFLET, THE DEPARTMENT HAS ARRANGED SEMINARS FOR SCHOOL TEACHERS TO BRIEF THEM ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VACCINATION AND POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF THIS DISEASE DURING PREGNANCY.

AN ANTI-RUBELLA CAMPAIGN IS ORGANISED EVERY YEAR, AND OVER 140 000 GIRLS HAVE BEEN INOCULATED IN THE PAST TWO YEARS.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT WOMEN OF CHILD-BEAR ING AGE, WHO ARE IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH CHILDREN BECAUSE OF THEIR OCCUPATION, SUCH AS TEACHING OR NURSING, SHOULD ALSO BE VACCINATED.

THEY CAN OBTAIN THIS VACCINE, FREE OF CHARGE, AT ANY OF THE

37 GOVERNMENT MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CENTRES.

AS SOME ADULTS ARE NATURALLY IMMUNISED AGAINST THE INFECTION,

A BLOOD TEST BEFORE INOCULATION IS TAKEN TO FIND OUT WHETHER THE WOMAN CONCERNED IS ALREADY IMMUNISED.