being the V.D.R.L. floculation slide test for syphilis. In the blood banks, 28.469 pints of blood were received during the year, 27.966 piots of which were from the blood-collecting centres of the Hong Kong Red Cross Society. A total of more than 200,000 examinations of blood was carried out in the blood banks.
Chemical Pathology
$4. Some 460,000 specimens were examined, the most common being various quantitive examinations on blood, which accounted for more than 350.000 of the examinations.
Bacteriology and Public Health
85. More than 600,000 bacteriological examinations were carried out. Samples of nightsoil, well water, and imported food from endemic areas were routinely examined throughout the year for cholera vibrios, but no positive findings were obtained.
86. Apart from routine bacteriological diagnosis of tuberculosis, the tuberculosis laboratory was involved in anti-tuberculosis drug sensitivity tests in conjunction with the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom.
Virology
87. The government virus unit carried out diagnostic examinations for virus diseases and special investigations of virus infections prevalent in Hong Kong. During the year, a total of 9.728 specimens was examined, which was 44 per cent more than that in 1970.
88. In 1971, a survey of influenza antibody was carried out among pigs. Haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody to A/Hong Kong/68 virus was found present in 12.5 per cent of locally-bred, and in 8 per cent of imported pigs. In 1969, a similar survey was carried out which showed that haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody was present in 13.8 per cent of locally-bred and 25.7 per cent of imported pigs. The findings in the 1971 survey indicated a notable reduction during the year in the incidence of A/Hong Kong/68 influenza virus infection among imported pigs.
89. Parainfluenza type 1 virus infections were prevalent in March and April, and type 3 in December 1971. Other viruses associated with sporadic respiratory infections, in the order of frequency, were adeno-
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virus type 3 and type 2. ECHO type 1, Coxsackie B2 and B4 and cytomegalovirus.
90. Cytomegalovirus was isolated in 30 infants presenting clinical syndromes of jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly, pneumonia or convulsion. A serological study showed 74 per cent of 100 adults aged between 20 and 30, had complement-fixing antibody against the virus. The finding suggested the endemicity of the disease.
91. In connection with the occurrence of Japanese B encephalitis among five horses in the New Territories, a serological survey of 436 horses was subsequently carried out. There was no evidence of exten- sive virus dissemination. About 9 per cent of the horses showed low titres of haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody against the virus.
INDUSTRIAL HEALTH
(Table 46)
92. The health of workers in factories and other industrial under- takings is the statutory responsibility of the Commissioner of Labour. The Industrial Health Division of the Labour Department, staffed by personnel seconded from the Medical and Health Department, is responsible for advising the Commissioner on all matters affecting the health and welfare of industrial workers. Its principal functions are to prevent occupational diseases and to promote health at work. The inspection of industrial undertakings by medical officers of the division, the monitoring of the working environment by laboratory staff, and the investigation of notified occupational diseases and medical sur- veillance of special groups of workers, are the principal ways in which these functions are carried out.
93. Environmental surveys include measurement of silica dust in quarries, and of concentrations in the air of lead, manganese, solvents, and sulphur dioxide, and the investigation of standards of thermal comforĻ, ventilation, noise and lighting.
94. Industrial health officers also act as advisers to commercial undertakings and other government departments on occupational health matters. They examine government divers annually to safeguard their health and safety,
95.
A total of 38,306 occupational injuries was recorded by indus- trial health visitors and nurses of the division during the year. Of
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