NOUMEA, New Caledonia — The mosquito-transmitted hemorrhagic dengue fever has claimed a fourth victim this week, health authorities announced on Wednesday. The latest fatality for this year is reported to be a 41-year-old man who was believed not to be suffering any particular syndrome before death struck. New Caledonia's health and social affairs department's latest update as at July 1 says in terms of dengue fever, the epidemic that has gripped the French Pacific territory since September last year has produced a total of 8,674 cases of infection, mostly of the serotype 4. Since January 1, 2009, the cumulated figure stands at 8,485 cases. The trend of the epidemic, however, has significantly slowed down since last month and a significant cooling of temperatures and humidity (the main factors for mosquito proliferation): the number of cases peaked at 3,412 cases in March, 2,269 in April, then 598 in May and 158 in June. But the main concern for local health authorities was the risk for the epidemic to resume when the hot season comes back during the last quarter of this year. Officials are maintaining the awareness campaign to advise the public to take advantage of the cooler conditions to make sure no potential breeding site for mosquitoes (old pots, tyres, bushes in the compound) is left. Meanwhile, the cooler conditions are also perceived to have also contributed to a significant drop in cases of leptospirosis, which has also claimed the lives of eight persons this year and affected a total of 157. Leptospirosis is a disease transmitted through animal waste (particularly rats, dogs, pigs) in still or muddy waters. Like dengue fever, its symptoms include muscular and joint pains, headaches and fever. | | Dengue fever has killed four and infected nearly 9,000 people in New Caledonia, which has suffered sharp declines in tourist arrivals since the epidemic started. On the other front of Influenza A (H1N1), health authorities have also confirmed on Wednesday that an eighth case had been confirmed, a woman who recently returned from a trip to New Zealand. Like the seven other confirmed cases, most of whom recently returned from travels to Australia and New Zealand, she has been placed in a designated isolation ward and placed under Tamiflu treatment for at least seven days. |
