Dengue fever cases on rise in Fiji

Fiji's Ministry of Health said 155 cases of dengue fever were confirmed in the first two months of 2017, the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reported Friday.

The number may continue increasing if prevention and control measures are not intensified, said National Adviser for Communicable Diseases Mike Kama, adding that health officials have been mobilized in dengue high-risk areas to curb the spread.

Aside from dengue fever, another concern is the possible rise of conjunctivitis, an eye infection.

While there is currently no outbreak of conjunctivitis, the eye infection is endemic to Fiji and is common at this time of the year, Kama said.

Dengue fever is caused by the dengue virus and the virus is spread from dengue-infected individuals to well dengue-free persons by the black-and-white striped female Aedes aegypti mosquito when it takes a blood meal.

Once an individual contracts dengue, the person manifests symptoms of the disease four to 10 days later.

The typical symptoms of dengue fever include fever, intense headache, muscle and joint pains, flushed skin or rashes on the arms and legs, and perhaps minor bleeding of the gums and/or nose. Endit