Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
CHP updates on clusters of students participating in exchange tours who developed gastroenteritis symptoms
The latest cluster involves a secondary school in Kwun Tong District. A total of 36 teachers and students participated in an exchange tour to Xiamen between March 13 and 15, during which six students developed AGE symptoms, including vomiting, diarrhoea and fever, from about 9pm on March 14 to about 7am the next morning. Five of them sought medical attention in Xiamen, and none required hospitalisation.
The CHP is investigating the source of this AGE outbreak from different aspects. Preliminary epidemiological investigations revealed that all six affected persons had not consumed any common food items other than the group meals and had no other common exposure history in Hong Kong prior to their departure. Hence, at this stage, the CHP could not rule out the possibility that the cases were infected by consuming contaminated food. The CHP has notified the Mainland health authority of the relevant epidemiological investigations and information regarding the restaurants concerned. The CHP is collecting stool specimens from the patients for laboratory testing and has notified the EDB of the relevant assessment.
Regarding the three clusters of students participating in exchange tours to Shaoguan who developed gastroenteritis symptoms
Apart from the Mainland, there have been recent outbreaks of AGE in other popular travel destinations for Hong Kong citizens. In Japan, the number of patients seeking medical attention for infective gastroenteritis has increased in recent weeks, and large-scale food poisoning outbreaks caused by norovirus have been reported in various places in recent months. In Singapore, the number of medical consultations related to acute diarrhoeal illnesses was higher than the same period last year. In Taiwan, the number of medical consultations related to diarrhoea has remained high in recent months, reaching a record high over the same period in the past five years. Test results showed that the majority of the outbreaks were caused by norovirus. Members of the public should remain vigilant and maintain personal, environmental and food hygiene at all times to minimise the risk of being infected while travelling.
Viral gastroenteritis is more commonly seen in cooler months and can be caused by a variety of viruses, most commonly norovirus and rotavirus. The main symptoms of viral gastroenteritis are diarrhoea and vomiting. Other symptoms include headache, fever, and abdominal cramps. In general, the symptoms begin one to two days following infection with a virus that causes gastroenteritis. Depending on the type of viruses causing the illness, however, the symptoms may last for one to 10 days.
Alcohol-based handrub should not substitute hand hygiene with liquid soap and water, as alcohol does not effectively kill some viruses frequently causing AGE, for example, norovirus. To prevent foodborne diseases, members of the public are advised to observe good personal, food and environmental hygiene. When eating out, the following points should be observed:
???The public may visit the CHP’s website for more information and preventive advice on
viral gastroenteritis
Issued at HKT 18:15
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