No drastic measures planned for children Health officials are continuing the battle against dengue fever with an educational blitz. The Kaua’i office of the state Department of Health has sent out factsheets, describing the mosquito-borne virus and the precautions recommended
No drastic measures planned for children
Health officials are continuing the battle against dengue fever with an educational blitz.
The Kaua’i office of the state Department of Health has sent out factsheets, describing the mosquito-borne virus and the precautions recommended to combat it, to all the island’s schools, according to epidemiology specialist Jo Manea.
But the department isn’t recommending any drastic measures, such as keeping children in the classrooms during lunch and recess or mandating long-sleeved shirts.
“No cases have been reported in a child in school at this time. We’ll focus on (schools) as we see the need,” Manea said.
There is some controversy about whether any locally generated cases of dengue fever have even been officially confirmed.
It was reported statewide Wednesday that the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. had confirmed one case in Anahola. But Manea said Thursday afternoon that no official word has reached here from Atlanta.
“There is preliminary laboratory evidence that has not been confirmed” by CDC, she said. “We conducted a field-level screening test. We have to know where to go” to spray and take other precautions in “the target areas.”
Manea added that there has also been some confusion about reported cases in Kalaheo. She said the Kalaheo cases were picked up elsewhere and that the area was sprayed as a precaution.
Dengue fever is contracted by a breed of mosquitos called the Albopictus and isn’t passed from person to person like the flu.
But the symptoms of dengue fever, which only surface in about 25 percent of the known cases, are very flu-like. Chills and fever are the primary symptoms, and treatment is also similar to the flu, with experts recommending bedrest and plenty of fluids.
But unlike the flu, experts advise avoiding aspirin when treating dengue fever.
Although uncomfortable, dengue fever is not statistically plague-like. In the last serious outbreak in Hawai’i, in 1943, there were 1,420 reported cases, but only three deaths occurred.
Children, the elderly and the already sick are most at risk in the current outbreak.
The average length of the symptoms is approximately 10 days although total recovery can take weeks.
Contracting dengue fever and recovering doesn’t guarantee immunity, though.
“There are four types of dengue viruses. Exposure to one type provides immunity to that specific type of dengue virus but not to other types,” Faye Newfield of the Kaua’i District Health Office said.
Dengue is diagnosed by a blood test and clinical findings.
The illness can be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites during the daytime by wearing long-sleeve lothing and using mosquito repellent on skin and clothes. Officials also recommend eliminating mosquito-breeding areas, including standing water.
Speculation on radio talk shows that the outbreak of dengue fever (which began on Maui, where 21 cases have been confirmed and another 100 are suspected) is somehow connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have been dismissed by medical experts.
Dengue fever outbreaks have already occurred this year all over southeast Asia and the south Pacific, well before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Persons with symptoms of dengue fever are asked by officials to call the health office at 241-3563 or 241-3387.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
