Hong Kong travellers warned to be aware of worldwide measles resurgence as 3 cases recorded in city in first 2 months of year

Three cases recorded locally in January and February, the same number logged annually in each of the previous two years

Two children and an adult diagnosed with disease, which can lead to severe problems such as blindness, meningitis or even death in some cases

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The virus that causes measles, which has experienced a worldwide resurgence. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00am, 1 Mar 2024Updated: 7:03am, 1 Mar 2024

Hongkongers who plan to travel overseas have been warned to be alert to a worldwide resurgence of measles after city health authorities recorded three cases in the first two months of 2024.

Two of the three cases – which equalled annual totals for the last two years – were young children without a travel history before they displayed symptoms.

The other case was an adult who had travelled to Malaysia during the incubation period, the Centre for Health Protection said in a letter to city doctors on Thursday.

“Although the vaccination coverage remains very high and the risk of a large-scale local outbreak is considered to be low, Hong Kong has been constantly facing the risk of measles virus importation and the potential risk of further spread in the local community,” the centre said.

Dr Wilson Lam says travellers should be careful overseas after a resurgence in measles worldwide. Photo: Handout

Health officials said two of the patients, all city residents, had received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and one was not yet due for inoculation against the disease.