Macau recorded this year’s first imported case of dengue fever yesterday, the Health Bureau (SSM) announced in a statement last night.
According to the statement, the patient is a 26-year-old female non-resident worker who lives in Block 3 of the Kong Fok On Garden residential estate in Areia Preta district. She works at the nearby Bairro do Hipódromo Activities Centre, as well as the Kin Heng Long Plaza commercial building in Nape.
Bairro do Hipódromo Activities Centre, one of the Education and Youth Development Bureau’s (DSEDJ) activity centres, is located on the peninsula’s northern coast. “Bairro” means “neighbourhood” in Portuguese. Hipódromo, a neighbourhood in Areia Preta, is situated around between Iao Hon and the Oriental Pearl neighbourhood.
According to the statement, the woman visited her family members in Malaysia between February 4 and 19. After returning to Macau, she came down with a fever, muscle pain and headache on Thursday last week, after which she sought treatment at a medical institution, which the statement did not identify.
The woman developed a rash on her limbs on Tuesday, before seeking treatment at the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre the next day where she had her blood sample collected for a test. She was diagnosed with Grade III dengue fever yesterday, the statement said.
Yesterday’s statement said that the woman was in a stable condition. The statement did not mention whether she has been discharged from the hospital.
According to the statement, the patient has told the Health Bureau that after coming down with the symptoms, she had not left her home except for when she went to work or sought treatment.
The statement said that the woman’s friends living with her in Macau had not come down with dengue symptoms, but one of her family members in Malaysia had also been diagnosed with dengue fever there.
The statement underlined that the Macau Health Bureau has classified the woman’s case as an imported case of dengue fever after considering her travel history and the time of the onset of her symptoms, as well as its laboratory test results.
The Health Bureau has carried out measures to eradicate mosquitoes in the areas around the patient’s home and workplaces.
7 imported cases last year
Macau reported seven imported cases of dengue fever last year, the first post-pandemic year.
In pre-pandemic 2019, Macau recorded a total of 27 cases of dengue fever, all of which were classified as imported.
Macau’s three-year COVID-19 pandemic curbs began in January 2020.
Macau recorded one imported case of dengue fever in 2020, which was detected in February. Macau did not record any cases of dengue fever in 2021 and 2022.
