Cases of dengue fever continue to increase in the Big Island. The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) reported a total of 181 confirmed cases of dengue fever including one new case reported on Christmas Eve. Of the total, 163 are local residents while 18 are tourists.
Due to the dengue fever outbreak, state officials closed the vicinity of Milolii village and Honomalino Bay to the public to prevent the spread of the disease. The Milolii park was closed on Dec. 23 until further notice to pave way for park department staff to conduct mosquito control treatments.
"This is an issue that we have to take seriously, as seriously as we did the Ebola epidemic in West Africa last year," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine, said.
Hookena Beach Park was also closed and access to both areas is limited to local residents only. Violation of the regulations is subject to a penalty of $5,000 for the first offense. Subsequent signs are posted to warn people of the risk of entering the parks.
The Department of Health launched its "Fight the Bite" campaign on Nov. 9. Its aim is to educate the public on dengue fever and cooperate with state officials to curb the spread of the disease.
"HDOH continues to routinely monitor for cases of imported dengue infection on ALL islands and will continue to have Vector Control perform mosquito site assessments and abatement as needed," HDOH said in its website.
What Is Dengue Fever?
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms that might lead to a potentially-fatal complication called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). It is mainly transmitted by female mosquitoes of a species called Aedes aegypti. The disease is widespread in tropical areas.
Common signs and symptoms include severe headache, joint pains, severe pain behind the eyes, muscle and bone pain, rash and mild bleeding. It will usually start with a fever that will last from two to seven days. After the fever, around 24 to 48 hours, small vessels called capillaries become permeable or leaky. This will make blood escape into the peritoneum causing ascites and into the pleural cavity causing pleural effusion.
Bleeding may occur that can lead to circulatory system failure and shock and eventually to death if not treated immediately. Typical diagnostic markers are decreased platelet count and hemorrhagic manifestations like bleeding from the nose, gums and internal bleeding.
Global Dengue
Dengue fever is an emerging disease prominent in Thailand and the Philippines. It is endemic in at least 100 countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Americas. An estimated 2.5 billion people or 40 percent of the world's population live in areas at high risk of dengue transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
According to the World Health Organization, the incidence of dengue increased in the past decades. Around 390 million dengue infections per year are reported wherein 96 million manifest the disease clinically.
WHO estimated that 50 to 100 million infections occur each year with 500,000 cases of DHF and 22,000 deaths which occur mostly in children.
In the United States, reported infections were acquired outside the country or brought by travelers. Past outbreaks happened in Hawaii in 2001 and Texas in 2005. This is the second time Hawaii reported increased number of cases of dengue fever.
Photo: John Ragai | Flickr
