In a follow-up on the dengue fever situation in Hong Kong, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health announced investigating two additional locally acquired dengue fever cases.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The first additional case involves a 59-year-old male patient with good past health, who developed fever, headache, retro-orbital pain, myalgia and arthralgia since August 17. He sought medical attention at the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of St John Hospital as well as Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) on August 20. He is admitted to QMH and has all along been in a stable condition. His blood sample tested positive for dengue virus serotype 1 upon laboratory testing.

Initial inquiries revealed that the patient lives alone in San Hing Street in Cheung Chau and recalled history of mosquito bite in Fa Peng Road in Cheung Chau. During the incubation period, the patient had travelled to Shunde and Guangzhou in Guangdong. This case is tentatively classified as a local case.

The second case involves a 43-year-old female patient with good past health, who developed fever, myalgia, arthralgia and rash since August 14. She was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment on August 20. She has all along been in a stable condition and her blood sample tested positive for dengue virus serotype 1 upon laboratory testing.

Initial inquiries revealed that the patient lives in Chuk Yuen (South) Estate in Wong Tai Sin. She had no travel history during the incubation period but had visited Lion Rock Park. She recalled history of recent mosquito bite.

These are the 17th to 18th local cases recorded this year. Excluding the local cases, 61 imported cases had been recorded in 2018. The cases were mainly imported from Thailand (26), the Philippines (12) and Cambodia (seven).