American Samoa boy dies of dengue

Tuliau told Samoa News yesterday that the youngster passed away two weeks ago. DOH received test results confirming the boy died from dengue fever this week.

“This is a very sad situation for the family to lose a child this young,” he said in a telephone interview.

Early this month DOH reported 51 confirmed cases.

As of yesterday, DOH said there are now 69 confirmed cases of dengue fever for 2008 and of these cases 57 percent are male and 43 percent females, ranging from infants to adults.

Asked from which part of the territory the majority of dengue cases are being report, Dr. Tuliau said, “it’s basically all over the island but many are in close clustered areas with high populations” such as Fagatogo, Pago Pago, Tafuna and similar areas.

As the number of dengue cases increase DOH is looking at other ways of launching a new awareness program, targeting youngsters.

“Our health team will be meeting this week to discuss our next move in educating the public about the danger of dengue fever and how to prevent it,” said Dr.Tuliau. “There was a campaign in Singapore where an awareness program was launched in schools and was very successful in bringing the number of their dengue cases down.”

“So we are looking also at targeting schools and will be working with the Department of Education on this important issue,” he said, noting that during last year’s public awareness they worked with village mayors and the Office of Samoan Affairs.

Last year’s cases totaled 109 including one death and Dr. Tuliau said DOH wants to keep the numbers down this year. He added that other Pacific islands are facing the same problem with increasing cases of dengue fever.

The World Health Organization yesterday called for more funds for dengue fever, arguing it has reached pandemic proportions in the Pacific.

WHO’s Pacific representative, Dr. Kevin Palmer, says the region needs to adopt a multi-sector approach to fight the disease, which is affecting thousands of people.

DOH has issued a statement saying “we implore our community to step up cleaning efforts around the home, village and school areas to help promote the eradication of mosquito breeding sites.”

DOH yesterday reiterated it’s three D campaign to help fight against dengue.