DENGUE/DHF UPDATE 2007

DENGUE/DHF UPDATE 2007

Jamaica
Date: Mon 19 Nov 2007
Source: Radiojamaica.com [edited]
http://www.radiojamaica.com/content/view/3117/26/

The Ministry of Health is reporting that the number of suspected cases of dengue fever has doubled in one month. Health minister Ruddy Spencer said last month [October 2007] the Ministry's numbers showed hat 2046 persons were suspected to have dengue fever. However, he said the number as of Saturday [17 Nov 2007] reflected a drastic increase of up to 4260 suspected cases island wide.

The ministry reports that 18 persons have died from dengue fever. The ages of those who have died from the disease range from 4 months to 79 years. Of these, 9 were children under 18 years old. Communicated by: ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett [It is interesting to note that several of the dengue fever cases reported on the Cayman Islands were acquired on Jamaica (see ProMED-mail archive no. 20071112.3670), illustrating the risk for dengue virus dissemination posed by travelers incubating this disease. The interactive HealthMap/ProMED-mail map showing the location of Jamaica in the Caribbean can be accessed at http://healthmap.org/promed?v=18.2,-77.3,6. - Mod.TY[2] Philippines Date: Tue 20 Nov 2007 Source: Philippine Information Agency [edited] <http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p071120.htm&no=41>

As of 9 Nov [2007], Capiz registered some 332 dengue cases with 5 deaths already. Records from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) of Capiz show that from 70 dengue cases in September [2007], these have significantly declined to 25 cases in October with one death.
Sanitary inspector Jane delos Reyes disclosed that from 1-9 Nov [2007] alone, the province has registered 2 deaths due to the dreaded day-biting mosquito carrying dengue virus.

In [the] 11-month period [in 2007], the highest number of cases was registered in August with 87 cases, followed by 83 and 70 cases in July and September, respectively, delos Reyes revealed.

She said that January [2007] registered the lowest number of dengue cases, which were noted at 2, followed by 5 cases each in March and April, and 6 cases each in February and May.

From January to 9 Nov [2007], Roxas City posted the highest number of cases -- 121 with one death --, de los Reyes said, adding that the Mambusao town registered 38 cases also with one death, followed by Dumalag with 36 cases.

Sapian has recorded 22 and Dumarao has also 22 cases with one death, while the municipalities of Cuartero, Dao, and Panitan have 12 cases each, she said.

The other mortalities were recorded in Maayon and Ivisan, she said. Last month [October 2007], the Department of Health (DOH) has issued a nationwide dengue fever alert after recording more than 4000 cases in the 2nd week of September.

The Department recorded 24 689 cases of the mosquito-borne disease since January [2007], with 283 deaths.

Dr Eric Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center, said that a sharp increase in the number of cases in September and October [2007] was expected because it was during that period that the disease proliferated due to the wet weather with a corresponding increase in breeding sites of the _Aedes_ dengue virus vector mosquito. - Mod.TY]

There is no known cure or vaccine to fight dengue fever, which is transmitted by a bite of the white-spotted mosquito known as _Aedes aegypti_, Tayag said, pointing out that most of those [people] killed tend to be children and old people who have weak resistance to the virus.

Byline: Jemin B. Guillermo] Communicated by:ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of the Philippines can be accessed at
<http://healthmap.org/promed?v=11.7,122.9,5>. - Mod.TY]

[3] Indonesia: (Java) Date: Wed 21 Nov 2007 Source: Surya online [in Indonesian trans. anonymous contributor, summ. & edited] <http://www.surya.co.id/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26629&Itemid=37>

As is happening in the Kediri Regency during November [2007], 7 patients were treated in Amelia's Hospital. In the regency since early in the year, 1201 dengue sufferers, including 18 people dying, were recorded.

As for the Mojokerto Regency, 129 villages were maintained as endemic for dengue. From 18 subdistricts in the Mojokerto Regency, only Trawas was declared free of dengue.

These data were provided to Surya, on Tuesday [20 Nov 2007], by Kediri Sigit Rahardjo Kabag of the Humas Regional Government, and section head Kesehatan of the Mojokerto Regency, Dr Noer Widijantoro.

The data in RS Amelia Pare, reported that 7 dengue patients there were children from Gedangsewu, Pare; Mojokerep, Kecamatan Plemahan; and Fake, Kecamatan Puncu. These children improved and returned home.

In Mojokerto, the team of Dr Noer Widijantoro carried out intensive public education about prevention, handling, and eradication of the mosquitoes, _Aedes aegypti_ that breed in endemic dengue [virus] villages. Dia added, for 3 successive years, many villagers have been attacked by dengue.

The Jatirejo area had 12 of the most seriously [affected] dengue villages, followed by 11 villages in the Sooko subdistrict and 10 villages in the Kutorejo subdistrict. 3 subdistricts needed the extra treatment, he explained.

Communicated by:Anonymous contributor (name withheld by request) [Interestingly, Java also has an outbreak of febrile disease attributed to infection by chikungunya virus. Assuming both viruses are circulating, this possible situation of 2 simultaneous outbreaks of viruses, which produce similar symptoms underscores the need for laboratory confirmation. However, the approach for disease control, _Aedes_ vector mosquito reduction, would be the same.

An interactive map of Java, Indonesia can be accessed at <http://encarta.msn.com/map_701513466/Java_(island).html>.

The WHO (World Health Organization) description of dengue fever and the more deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever [DHF] can be found in ProMED-mail's "Dengue/DHF update 20070514.1541." ProMED-mail thanks the contributors to this update and encourages others to contribute reports also. - Mod.TY]