XN000022-1981-03-26 — Page 20

THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1981

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UNTREATED BUBONIC PLAGUE, THE LEAST SERIOUS OF THEM ALL HAS A FATALITY RATE OF BETWEEN 25 AND 50 PER CENT AND PNEUMONIC VARIETY IS OFTEN LETHAL, THOUGH WITH MODERN THERAPY, THIS IS NOT SO IF RECOGNISED AND TREATED EARLY.

+THIS WORLD-WIDE DISEASE SHOWS ITS PRESENCE IN LARGE AREAS OF AFRICA, AMERICAS AND ASIA. IT HAS RECENTLY BEEN A SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEM IN INDIA, BURMA, INDONESIA AND NEPAL AND SINCE 1962 VIETNAM HAS EXPERIENCED A MARKED INCREASE OF SEVERAL THOUSAND CASES, SAID DR LAM.

HE WARNED THAT THE RECENT INFLUX OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES AND INCREASING NUMBER OF TRAVELLERS FROM THESE SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES TO

ONG KONG HAS MADE THIS A LOCAL PROBLEM.

HE EMPHASISED THAT OVER THE YEARS. WITH CLOSE COOPERATION FROM THE URBAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT, A STRICT SURVEILLANCE OF THE RAT POPULATION IN THE AIRPORT, WHARF AND WATER-FRONT GODOWN AREAS HAD EN KEPT AS ONE OF THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO KEEP PLAGUE OUT.

RATS SUSPECTED TO BE CARRYING PLAGUE FLEA ARE SENT TO PATHOLOGICAL LABORATORIES EITHER AT SAI YING PUN OR AT THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL FOR EXAMINATION.

IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE REFUGEES WOULD NOT POSE A HEALTH HAZARD TO OUR LOCAL POPULATION, ALL NEW ARRIVALS ARE REQUIRED TO BE EXAMINED BY THE PORT HEALTH OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE AUXILIARY MEDICAL SERVICE AND TO BE QUARANTINED, SAID DR LAM.

THESE STRICT PREVENTIVE MEASURES HAVE PROVED TO BE EFFECTIVE IN STOPPING THE INTRODUCTION OF QUARANTINABLE DISEASES, HE SAID.

+EVEN AT THE HEIGHT OF THE REFUGEE INFLUX WHEN WE HAD A TOTAL OF 73 700 IN 1979, THERE WAS NO OUTBREAK OF ANY SERIOUS COMMUNICABLE DISEASE IN HONG KONG, HE ADDED.

IN ADDITION TO THESE DIRECT PREVENTIVE MEASURES, THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT ALSO CARRIED OUT OTHER LONG TERM PROJECTS WHICH HAVE SHOWN GOOD RESULTS.

THE ELIMINATION OF POL IOMYELITIS AND THE CONTROL OF MANY CHILDHOOD COMMUNICABLE DISEASES SUCH AS DIPHTHERIA, MEASLES AND TUBERCULOSIS ARE THE OUTCOME OF THE ENFORCEMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE IMMUN ISAT ION PROGRAMME, HE SAID.

THE PROMOTION OF HEALTH CARE FOR THE ELDERLY, THE MOTHER AND THE CHILD, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH EDUCATION ARE ALSO WITHIN THE SCOPE OF PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES, HE ADDED.

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