Posted on: Friday, September 21, 2001

Dengue fever cases reported in East Maui

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

State health officials are investigating an outbreak of dengue fever in the remote East Maui village of Nahiku.

There have been four confirmed cases and at least 20 suspected cases of the disease, which is spread by certain types of mosquitoes, said Mary Santa Maria, public health educator with the Department of Health on Maui.

All of the suspected cases reported in the past week or so are Maui residents who recently visited Tahiti, where there is an epidemic of the disease.

Santa Maria said there is no reason to panic or to avoid the Nahiku area, since dengue fever is rare in Hawai'i — only 17 cases from 1996-2000 — and there has never been a case in which the disease was contracted in the Islands; all of the patients were infected in foreign countries.

Public health officials from O'ahu and Maui have been in Nahiku taking blood samples, educating residents about the disease and conducting vector control measures to eliminate mosquito breeding areas.

There is no vaccine or treatment for dengue fever except bed rest and over-the-counter pain and fever medications. The illness usually lasts five to seven days.

Symptoms include sudden onset of fever; painful headaches; eye, joint and muscle aches; and a rash that begins on the arms and legs three to four days after the onset of fever. Occasionally, individuals with dengue fever experience blood-clotting problems characterized by abnormal bleeding and dangerously low blood pressure.

Between July 23 and Aug. 10, health officials received reports of 10 possible cases of dengue fever from patients recently returned from French Polynesia or Western or American Samoa. Earlier in the year, three cases were confirmed in people who were infected in either the Philippines or Indonesia.

Travelers to areas that have dengue fever are advised to avoid exposure to mosquitoes during early morning and late afternoon hours when the mosquitoes are most active; use mosquito netting over beds; seek living quarters where there are screens on windows and doorways; wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants; and use mosquito repellent.