With the increase of suspected dengue fever cases in the territory the Department of Health is holding mandatory clean-up between Wednesday and Friday which will be increased, when necessary, says the DOH Director, Motusa Tuileama Nua. Also, with the start of the new school year, DOH will be conducting vector control inspection for all the schools, private and public.

Responding to Samoa News queries, Motusa stated that they will also be inspecting public buildings — this will start on August 10, 2015.

The updated report compiled by DOH on the dengue fever outbreak shows an increase of 54 cases within the span of eight days.

There is also an increase of 14 people who were admitted within the same time to the hospital for treatment and other observation.

The DOH Director stated that their department will heighten community awareness on all of the radio stations with up-to-date data.

He said DOH continues the fight against dengue as they continue meetings with key partners on resolutions. Motusa told Samoa News that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) oversees and is still monitoring the dengue presence on island. He further stated that there are frequent meetings with LBJ Health Care Staff on dengue which has claimed the life of four people in the territory.

In the meantime, DOH continues their 3D campaign and stresses public cooperation with environmental measures.

As reported earlier, DOH said that the usual symptoms of dengue are acute nausea, vomiting, fever, rash, joint pain and general fatigue and weakness. DOH would like to continue to encourage the practice of good hygiene and environmental sanitation practices, and if there are any treatment concerns, the Department of Health encourages the public to please contact them.

BACKGROUND

It should also be noted that an ASCC Land Grant study on the breeding grounds of the the two species of mosquitoe that carry the dengue fever virus, found they are “container breeding mosquitoes — their breeding habitats are water-holding containers.”

They are plastic buckets, used tires, plastic tarps that are laid out on the ground collecting water, flower pots that may be filled with water, tin cans, discarded appliances like old refrigerators, unused abandoned boats, discarded aluminum trays, Styrofoam plates, plastic cups and bowls, and car parts and engines.

“In terms of prevention of dengue fever, and reducing the problem that we’re having, it’s really, really very important to focus on those types of habitats,” Dr. Mark Schmaedick, the entomologist at ASCC Land Grant said during a House Health Committee hearing last month, July, in which he testified about the breeding grounds of the dengue fever carrying mosquitoes.

“…the other important thing to realize is that most of those habitats are things we can deal with pretty much on our own,” he testified. “A lot of them can go into the rubbish, a lot of them can be dealt with in other ways — like tires can be taken to the disposal site out in Futiga [landfill] and drums can be covered with cloth so the mosquitoes can’t go in there.”

“So I think the very important point here is that the breeding sites of these dengue carrying mosquitoes are for the most part, things that we can all deal with. Each family can deal with those breeding sites on their own land, within their village,” he said.

Another important fact that was shared by Dr. Schmaedick is that the two mosquito species which carry dengue “are fairly weak flyers. They don’t tend to fly from village to village. So if we are able to eliminate those breeding sites around our houses, around our villages, then we can actually protect the people around our houses, around our villages from dengue fever.”