New Straits Times

Friday, 24/06/2011

HK confirms second scarlet fever death

HONG KONG: Hong Kong Thursday confirmed a five-year-old boy had died from scarlet fever, the second death in the southern Chinese city as dozens of new cases were reported.

The government on Tuesday said the boy, who died that morning and had chicken pox prior to his death, was "very likely" a victim of scarlet fever, after declaring an outbreak of the disease in the city of seven million.

"Test results showed that the five-year-old boy who died on Tuesday is confirmed to have suffered from scarlet fever," a spokeswoman from the Centre for Health Protection told AFP. The test results was released late Wednesday.

She said the boy’s brothers, aged seven and 13, had also been tested for scarlet fever and results were still pending.

The second fatality comes after the illness, which mainly affects children aged between two and eight, claimed the life of a seven-year-old girl last month and infected thousands of others in the city and elsewhere in China.

The spokeswoman also said 28 new cases had been reported since Tuesday, with the number of scarlet fever cases in Hong Kong at 494.

– AFP