GGRAsia – Aggregate 12 cases of rubella at StarWorld, CoD: Macau govt

The Macao Health Bureau said that during the first 14 days of this month, it was confirmed that 12 people working in casinos at the Macau casino had caught rubella, a disease also called German measles.

The 12 employees – who would be workers at the City of Dreams casino in Cotai or the StarWorld hotel in the Macau Peninsula – made up the majority of the 19 rubella cases reported this year, the office said in a Sunday update. . Macau recorded a total of 18 rubella cases throughout the city in April.

Last week, the health office confirmed that six City of Dreams staff – four of whom resided in Macao – had been diagnosed with rubella. According to the office, five of the six workers affected at StarWorld were residents of Macau.

Some rubella staff residents of the casino residing in the country were born in mainland China and had a "vague history" of vaccination against this virus, the bureau noted last week. Rubella is a preventable disease through vaccination, according to the World Health Organization. Complications related to the disease include the risk of miscarriage or fetal abnormality in women who contract it early in pregnancy.

City of Dreams, in Cotai, is operated by Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd. StarWorld Hotel, located on the Macao Peninsula, is a casino complex operated by Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.

GGRAsia asked the two casino operators to comment on cases of rubella infection and asked them what operational measures they could take in light of these cases. At the time this story was put online, none of the companies had received a statement from us.

The health office announced Sunday that it was working to locate people who had been in contact with rubella patients identified locally.

The office had also "asked" local employers of all infected persons to "strengthen disinfection" at the workplace and to "make the appropriate arrangements" for any pregnant employee having "no immunity" against the virus rubella – in other words, not vaccinated – according to his press release on Sunday.

The office had sent nurses to extract blood samples from all pregnant staff members of the StarWorld Hotel on Friday (see photo) by checking to see if their antibody profile exhibited signs of immunity from the rubella. This task was to continue Monday, according to the health office.

According to the WHO, children and adults infected with the rubella virus usually have symptoms including rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes. Rubella can be transmitted by droplets suspended in the air when infected persons sneeze or cough.

Lam Chong, director of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the Macau Health Bureau, had noted in a press conference on April 10 that a "small-scale" outbreak of rubella was possible in the city and that proven cases had recently been registered in mainland China. and Japan.

The official said that up to 25% of "residents of Macau" may not be immune to rubella. Two ways of immunity are either an earlier infection or a vaccination. Macau set up a rubella vaccination program in the 1990s, Lam added, adding that in recent years, only a handful of rubella cases have been reported in the city each year.

Last month, the Office of Health announced local cases of measles infection. Two involved staff members working in local casino hotels. Measles is a highly contagious disease according to the WHO. Macao has recorded more than 30 cases of such an infection this year, according to information released by the bureau.