Five more to be screened for dengue fever
| • | Special: Dengue fever: health crisis in the making |
Advertiser Staff
Health department officials said yesterday that five more people in Hawai'i are suffering from undiagnosed fevers, bringing the total number of Hawai'i residents who will be screened for dengue fever to nearly 130.
Janice Okubo, a health department spokeswoman, said local physicians yesterday reported five additional cases of fever that are not clearly associated with a disease other than dengue. Four of those cases were on Maui, where there have been 26 confirmed cases of the disease so far.
On Saturday, doctors and clinics had reported nine new cases, but Okubo said one of those cases turned out to be appendicitis.
The health department said last week that the state is suffering an outbreak of dengue fever.
Dr. Paul Effler, Hawai'i's state epidemiologist, said state officials have asked all Hawai'i doctors and clinics to report cases of fever that are not clearly associated with a disease other than dengue.
Health department officials then investigate further, conducting patient interviews and screening tests and sending information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which performs the final analysis at a laboratory in Puerto Rico.
