Macau has recorded this year’s first locally transmitted case of dengue fever, the Health Bureau (SSM) has announced.
The local case recorded on Wednesday was announced by the bureau in a statement that night.
This came after the bureau had recorded 15 imported cases of dengue fever this year as of Wednesday.
It is the first time that Macau has confirmed a local case of dengue fever since 2018.
According to the statement, the patient is a 56-year-old local man who lives in Cheng Chun Building (+C،u<س), a social rental housing estate in Ilha Verde district. He works in two public parks, namely Dr Sun Yat-sen Municipal Park (،ە)❊.]$$$s٪+،F$=٦ى), which is located between the Barrier Gate border checkpoint at the peninsula’s northern tip and the Qingmao border checkpoint in Ilha Verde district, and Flora Garden ($G❊s٣ُ$=٦ى) on Avenida de Sidónio Pais ($h&h٣>+ٹ٤٥$j٠(٨ٹ).
The man came down with a fever, headache and muscle pain on Friday last week, after which he sought treatment at a medical institution, which the statement did not identify.
As his symptoms persisted, the statement said, the man sought treatment in Zhuhai on Tuesday where he was suspected of having been infected with dengue fever, because of which, the statement said, he then returned to Macau where he sought treatment at the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre.
He was diagnosed with Grade I dengue fever by the Health Bureau’s Public Health Laboratory on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s statement said that the man was in a stable condition. However, the statement failed to mention whether he has been hospitalised.
The man told the Health Bureau that he had not travelled outside Macau during the incubation period.
According to the statement, the bureau has classified the man’s case as a locally transmitted case of dengue fever based on an epidemiological analysis.
The bureau is now carrying out an epidemiological investigation with the aim of identifying the location where the man was infected with the disease.
The statement noted that neighbouring Guangdong Province is being affected by locally transmitted dengue fever infections, urging residents to strengthen their vigilance against the disease.
This year’s 16th imported dengue case
Meanwhile, Macau recorded this year’s 16th imported case of dengue fever yesterday, the bureau announced in a statement last night.
According to the statement, the patient, a five-year-old local girl, travelled to Zhongshan City in the neighbouring province with her family to visit her relatives between October 10 and 13. After returning to Macau, she came down with a fever on Saturday last week, after which she was taken to a medical institution, which the statement did not identify, to seek treatment.
Last night’s statement said that when health officials were carrying out an epidemiological investigation at Cheng Chun Building, where this year’s first patient of locally transmitted dengue fever lives, on Wednesday after confirming the local case earlier that day, they discovered that the girl had come down with dengue symptoms so that they suspected her of having been infected with dengue fever.
Consequently, the statement said, health workers collected her blood sample for a test, at a blood collection post that was temporarily set up near the building shortly after this year’s first local case of dengue fever was confirmed on Wednesday.
Last night’s statement said that the girl was diagnosed with Grade II dengue fever by the bureau’s Public Health Laboratory yesterday.
The statement underlined that although the girl lives in the same building as this year’s first patient of locally transmitted dengue fever, they have been infected with different types of dengue fever, because of which health officials have concluded that the girl’s case was not connected with the local case confirmed on Wednesday.
Last night’s statement said that the girl was in a stable condition.
Last year, Macau reported a total of seven cases of dengue fever, all of which were classified as imported.
In 2019, the pre-COVID-19 pandemic year, Macau recorded a total of 27 cases of dengue fever, all of which were also classified as imported.
Macau recorded one imported case of dengue fever in 2020, while no any cases of dengue fever were reported in 2021 and 2022.
Macau reported several locally transmitted cases of dengue fever in 2018.
Poster courtesy of World Health Organisation (WHO)
