No New Confirmed Dengue Cases In Hawaii
Technical difficulties at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have delayed results on 12 new possible cases of dengue fever, Hawaii Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo told Civil Beat Thursday.
“We’re still waiting for results for 12 reported cases from physicians,” Okubo said. “But we have no new confirmed cases. We checked with CDC today, and they told us that they’ve been having some electronic problems, and there might be a delay in getting results.”
Okubo said the department is hoping to see results by the end of the week. Health officials last week confirmed two cases of dengue fever contracted by adults in Pearl City. The Health Department asked residents to take steps to avoid mosquito bites, and asked doctors to report any suspected cases of the disease.
“In total, since we put put out the medical alert since last thursday, we received 20 reports. Eight of them are negative, and we’re still waiting for results on the 12.”
Okubo said it would be inaccurate to suggest the 12 cases are dengue fever before receiving confirmation, especially after the Health Department’s request to doctors to report any suspected cases of the potentially deadly disease.
“We did ask physicians to report that information, so there’s a heightened awareness,” Okubo said. “We expected to get more reports.”
She said some people who get the disease don’t exhibit symptoms, so the Health Department is also testing some residents who don’t show signs of illness.
“We have done our own survey out in the Pearl City area, taking samples from people who are not necessarily ill,” Okubo said. “We’re awaiting those results. It’s hard for us to say anything until we get these reports back. Until we get them, and the results back from the CDC, we can’t really make any type of definite type of statement.”
The World Health Organization estimates that less than 1 percent of the 50 – 100 million people who contract dengue fever die from the disease each year.
Symptoms of the viral disease include:
- High fever
- Severe headaches
- Joint and muscle pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Rash
Check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s for more information about dengue fever.
