maika bolatiki
suva
Dengue fever has claimed two lives in the Eastern Division, Commissioner Eastern Lieutenant-Colonel Netani Rika told Fiji Sun.
“The the other two victims, one in Matuku and Rotuma contracted dengue fever in Suva but died in their own villages,” Lieutenant-Colonel Rika said while visiting the island of Ogea, Lau, with Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama last week.
But the biggest risk, Lieutenant-Colonel Rika said, was that the two victims could possibly have helped spread the mosquito-borne disease in the two islands. According to a Ministry of Health press conference last Friday, 12 people have died from dengue so far; six from the Central Division; 4 from the West; 1 from the North and 1 from the Eastern Division. The youngest is a two-month-old baby and the oldest is 65 years. In addition the ministry is also investigating four possible dengue-related deaths. This is the result of an increase in the number of cases reported from the Northern and Eastern divisions.
The Fiji Sun has yet to establish if the two deaths, from Matuku and Rotuma, are included in the 12 fatal cases or part of four possible cases investigated by the ministry.
Lieutenant-Colonel Rika had advised the people on the islands to sleep under mosquito nets and clean their surroundings. Last Friday, the national adviser for communicable diseases, Dr Mike Kama, said: “There is a surge also in the Western Division particularly in Lautoka, Ba, Nadroga, Navosa and also Nadi. This dengue outbreak has also moved on to North, they are experiencing a surge in Labasa and Cakaudrove and it is anticipated it will also move to the Eastern Division island,” Dr Kama said.
To date 15,446 suspected dengue cases have been reported to the Ministry so far. Of this 4087 are clinically suspected cases.
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