Blood tests to find out who really needs measles vaccine among Hong Kong International Airport workers
- Health authorities look to preserve city’s limited supply of vaccinations as 31st case this year recorded
- More than a third of cases have involved airport or airline workers
Hong Kong health workers will do blood tests on airport staff and only vaccinate people found to lack immunity to measles to preserve the city’s limited supply of vaccines, health officials announced on Thursday, as the number of cases continued to grow.
The new strategy came as the total number of infections for 2019 rose to 31 – more than double the total of 15 for last year – after a 17-year-old Filipino man who arrived in the city on March 23 was as confirmed as infected. The visitor had been to Metropark Hotel in Mong Kok during the period when he could spread the disease.
Among this year’s cases, 11 involved airport and airline personnel. More than 4,200 airport staff have got jabs since the vaccination service began there on Friday.
Director of Health Dr Constance Chan Hon-yee said on Thursday her department would do blood tests on 100 people at the airport on Friday, to plan how best to provide the vaccines to airport workers.
“When we provide the vaccination service at the airport next week, we might ask people to undergo a blood test first, and we will only vaccinate them if they prove to be not immune to measles.”
Chan added that airport workers who needed to take care of pregnant family members and newborn babies would be given priority, without being asked to take a blood test.
Asked why the blood test was needed, Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee said: “The supply of vaccines is in a quite a limited situation to a certain extent, so therefore it is very important for the government to ensure that there is a stable supply of vaccines for people who are really [in need] ... the blood test will give us very good information.”
It is very important for the government to ensure that there is a stable supply of vaccines for people who are really [in need]
Dr Yuen Kwok-yung, chair professor of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, also said it was important for authorities to find airport employees who were vulnerable to the measles virus.
“If we conduct blood tests, 98 per cent of people could have antibodies ... But 70,000 people work at the airport. If 2 per cent do not have antibodies, there are 1,400 people who really need measles doses,” he said.
In the past week, pharmaceutical firms have given more than 30,000 doses of the vaccine to the private market, and about 40,000 doses to the public sector.
The government hoped another 40,000 doses would be delivered to Hong Kong between mid-April and June.
Li Wing-foo, vice-chairman of the Staffs and Workers Union of Hong Kong Civil Airlines, said it would be better to first provide vaccines to high-risk airport staff working in departments that already had more measles cases. At least three security workers and two baggage handlers have been infected.
“Shouldn’t staff from these departments be prioritised to be vaccinated first?” Li asked.
Li also worried that bringing in the blood tests would delay protection for those workers. In general, it would take one to two days to get blood test results, and two weeks for antibodies to develop after vaccination.
Sophia Chan emphasised that, as most Hong Kong residents are immune to measles, there was no need to panic or scramble for vaccines when they arrive.
But Sophia Chan and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong were lukewarm about the suggestion, saying that the government would contact helper hiring agencies, as well as the local consulates of Indonesia and the Philippines – where most domestic helpers come from – to promote vaccination among new arrivals.
