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Published On: Sat, Apr 13th, 2013

Fiji officials vigilant as Solomon Islands dengue cases rise

As the total number of cases of dengue fever continue to rise on the Solomon Islands, officials in Fiji say they are  vigilant in its prevention and surveillance of the mosquito borne viral disease, according to a Fiji Broadcasting Corp. report yesterday.

mosquito

Photo/CDC-James Gathany

According to the report, National adviser for Communicable Diseases Dr. Eric Rafai told FBC News that Fiji is at risk from Dengue due to the close trade and travel relations with the Solomon Islands.

The latest numbers out of the Solomon Islands is 2,226 confirmed cases of dengue fever, including three fatalities. Approximately 10 percent of those infected have required hospitalization for their illness.

According to the WHO collaborating Centre for Arbovirus Reference and research in Brisbane, it has confirmed that the type of dengue virus found was serotype 3.

The rise in the disease since January is linked to a earthquake and tsunami that occurred at that time.

The outbreak has prompted expert assistance from Australia to help with the situation.

Dr Malcolm Johnston-Leek, who’s deputy leader of the Australian team, said in an interview with Radio Australia, “Our main role is to assist the staff to bolster the numbers of staff here, to give the staff here relief. The doctors and nurses have been working extraordinarily long hours and hard many days in a row and they’re frankly all very tired, so we’re actually here to assist them to give them some relief and respite.

“As well, there’s a, we’ve got an environmental health person with us and they’re working with the Honiara City Council, looking at all the controlling the vectors that the Health Department here is having a very close eye on controlling the mosquitoes.”

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About the Author

- Writer, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch. Robert has been covering news in the areas of health, world news and politics for a variety of online news sources. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the website, Outbreak News Today and hosts the podcast, Outbreak News Interviews on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify Robert is politically Independent and a born again Christian Follow @bactiman63

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  1. Solomon Islands dengue outbreak show no sign of slowing: Health officials - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] a follow up to a story ten days ago, the dengue fever outbreak that has plagued the Oceanic country is showing no sign of slowing, […]

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