Hong Kong on bird flu alert
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
November 19, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PUBLIC hospitals in Hong Kong have been placed on Serious Response Level and have introduced tough infection control measures, following the confirmation of the first human bird flu case since February 2003, authorities said.
A 59-year-old local woman was found on Wednesday to have contracted H5N1 avian flu virus after visiting the Chinese mainland last month, said Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow.
She was in a serious condition, the Hong Kong Department of Health said last night.
Chow said the patient went to the mainland on October 23 where she visited places including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing. She developed flu symptoms such as cough and fever on November 2, one day after returning to Hong Kong, and was admitted to Tun Mun Hospital.
He said a series of measures to enhance surveillance and infection control will be implemented in public hospitals and clinics.
Public hospitals will closely monitor all suspected as well as confirmed cases and enhance the existing report mechanism, he said.
Furthermore, high risk patients attending Accident and Emergency Departments and general out-patient clinics would be triaged according to stipulated clinical guidelines, and appropriate tests would be performed when it was clinically indicated.
Under the Serious Response Level, more stringent infection control measures will be enforced in public hospitals in Hong Kong, which include no visiting at isolation wards unless on compassionate grounds.
For general acute hospitals, visiting hours are limited to two hours a day and two people at a time. For infirmary/ convalescent hospitals, it is limited to four hours a day and two people at a time, officials said.
And visitors to public hospitals are required to put on surgical masks and clean their hands before and after visiting patient areas.
Chow said the hospital authorities would continue to work closely with Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection in monitoring the latest situation and keep the general public, as well as health care workers, updated of the development on a regular basis.
Chow said there is no increased risk from imported poultry.
He said that he had been assured by mainland officials that the poultry Hong Kong imports was safe.
The bird flu virus first struck Hong Kong in 1997. Six people died in that outbreak and all chickens were culled. And the last human bird flu case in Hong Kong was reported in February 2003.
A 59-year-old local woman was found on Wednesday to have contracted H5N1 avian flu virus after visiting the Chinese mainland last month, said Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow.
She was in a serious condition, the Hong Kong Department of Health said last night.
Chow said the patient went to the mainland on October 23 where she visited places including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing. She developed flu symptoms such as cough and fever on November 2, one day after returning to Hong Kong, and was admitted to Tun Mun Hospital.
He said a series of measures to enhance surveillance and infection control will be implemented in public hospitals and clinics.
Public hospitals will closely monitor all suspected as well as confirmed cases and enhance the existing report mechanism, he said.
Furthermore, high risk patients attending Accident and Emergency Departments and general out-patient clinics would be triaged according to stipulated clinical guidelines, and appropriate tests would be performed when it was clinically indicated.
Under the Serious Response Level, more stringent infection control measures will be enforced in public hospitals in Hong Kong, which include no visiting at isolation wards unless on compassionate grounds.
For general acute hospitals, visiting hours are limited to two hours a day and two people at a time. For infirmary/ convalescent hospitals, it is limited to four hours a day and two people at a time, officials said.
And visitors to public hospitals are required to put on surgical masks and clean their hands before and after visiting patient areas.
Chow said the hospital authorities would continue to work closely with Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection in monitoring the latest situation and keep the general public, as well as health care workers, updated of the development on a regular basis.
Chow said there is no increased risk from imported poultry.
He said that he had been assured by mainland officials that the poultry Hong Kong imports was safe.
The bird flu virus first struck Hong Kong in 1997. Six people died in that outbreak and all chickens were culled. And the last human bird flu case in Hong Kong was reported in February 2003.
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