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Published Date: 2011-10-16 19:32:07
Subject: PRO/EDR> Rubella - China: (HK SAR) Indonesian women, RFI
Archive Number: 20111016.3104

RUBELLA - CHINA: (HONG KONG SAR), INDONESIAN WOMEN, REQUEST FOR
INFORMATION
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Date: Sun 16 Oct 2011
Source: 7th Space InteractiveWeb [abbreviated & edited]
http://7thspace.com/headlines/397065/suspected_rubella_outbreak_involving_three_indonesians_investigated.html

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is
investigating a suspected outbreak of rubella involving 3 Indonesian
domestic helpers who attended a church in Causeway Bay. The CHP
received notification from Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
and private doctors about 3 rubella cases involving Indonesian
domestic helpers, aged 27, 32 and 34, respectively. Laboratory tests
on the 34-year-old patient's blood samples yielded a positive result
for rubella virus [infection]. All of them are in stable condition. No
hospitalisation is needed.

Upon epidemiological investigation, CHP found that the trio attended
the same church before and during the onset of symptoms. An operation
was mounted today (Sun 16 Oct 2011) in which a health talk was
delivered. Questionnaires were distributed to attendees to assess
whether there were other persons with infection. A spokesman for the
CHP said: "Immunisation was offered to those in need. The CHP has
identified 11 people with symptoms and conducted blood tests on
them."

The spokesman explained that rubella infection, also known as "German
Measles," is a highly infectious disease caused by rubella virus. It
can be transmitted by contact with secretions from nose and pharynx of
infected persons through droplet spread or direct contact with
patients from one week before to at least 4 days after the onset of
symptoms. Incubation ranges from 14 to 23 days. As for symptoms,
children usually present with a diffuse rash and enlargement of lymph
nodes, but adults may experience a 1-5 day history of low-grade fever,
headache, malaise, mild cough and conjunctivitis followed by a skin
rash as in children.

Rubella infection also produces anomalies in the developing fetus,
leading to congenital rubella syndrome, which is characterised by
deafness, eye lesions, heart malformations and mental retardation in
infants born to women who were infected during the 1st 3 months of
pregnancy. The spokesman said that immunisation with rubella vaccine
is effective in preventing the disease. He urged those who are not
immunised, especially child-bearing-aged women, to check their
immunity status before pregnancy and receive rubella vaccine
accordingly.

--
Communicated by;
ProMED-mail from HealthMap alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>

[By August 2006, 117 countries had implemented rubella vaccines as
part of their routine national vaccination programmes. However, many
countries in Asia, such as the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, and
Viet Nam, have not introduced rubella vaccination into their national
immunization program. Therefore, rubella infection remains endemic in
many countries in Asia, and immigrants from these countries pose a new
challenge in the global effort to decrease rubella infections.
(Ching-Chiang Lin, et al., Am J Trop Med Hyg January 2010 vol. 82 no.
1 40-44 http://www.ajtmh.org/content/82/1/40.full). It is not stated
when the 3 Indonesian domestic workers arrived in Hong Kong, but it
seems likely that they had not been immunised previously and
contracted infection in Hong Kong. If any of the women are pregnant,
the outcome could be serious. Further information is requested. -
Mod.CP]

[For the interactive HealthMap/ProMED map of Hong Kong, see
http://healthmap.org/r/1l5N. - Mod.MPP]

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