Hong Kong reports 75 imported malaria cases over past month but expert says residents have no cause for alarm
- Centre for Health Protection says the imported cases involve patients aged 25 to 57 who all arrived from Africa
- Infectious disease expert David Hui urges residents not to panic about malaria as it is not transmitted from person to person
Hong Kong has recorded 75 imported malaria cases from Africa over the past month but a medical expert says there is no cause for concern as the disease is not transmitted from person to person and infection risks can be controlled by inpatient hospital care.
The Centre for Health Protection on Sunday said that from July 1 to Saturday it had recorded a total of 75 imported malaria cases, comprising patients aged 25 to 57 who had all arrived in Hong Kong from Africa. Sixty-five arrived from Guinea and the others from elsewhere in Africa.
As of noon on Saturday, two men, aged 52 and 53, had died of the disease while 58 patients were under medical care in public hospitals. Of those, one was in critical condition, two were listed as serious and the rest were stable. The patient in critical condition and one of the patients in serious condition were receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the centre for health protection’s communicable diseases branch, said on Sunday that besides Guinea, patients came to Hong Kong from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and Ethiopia.
Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted by an infected female Anopheline mosquito. The species of Anopheline mosquito found in Hong Kong are Anopheles minimus and Anopheles jeyporiensis.
Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, an infectious disease expert at Chinese University and an adviser to the government on the coronavirus pandemic, urged residents not to panic about getting infected with malaria as it was not transmitted from person to person and so far Hong Kong had not found the two types of Anopheline mosquitoes in urban areas.
“They were all imported cases from Africa. As long as these patients are under medical care in hospital to ensure they won’t get any bites from mosquitoes which might otherwise spread the disease by biting other people, there is no cause for alarm,” he said.
