DENGUE: must read (2013, eat, yard)

[leilaniguy]

I was hesitant to write this, but it is very important. There is an outbreak of Dengue (breakbone) Fever on Hawaii Island. 20 cases so far. The state authorities have basically told Hawaii County to "Take care of it ourselves". We can't possibly do this. This is going to spread across the entire state and is a risk to anyone who visits here.We need help. This concerns all of you.

[Grassyknoll]

Considering it has infected a good number of tourists, how long do you suppose before it starts affecting tourism?

[leilaniguy]

Now.

[whtviper1]

I recommend: long sleeves and mosquito repellent.

The good news, we are supposed to have extreme drought from El Niño soon.

[pj737]

Considering there are over 100 MILLION cases of Dengue fever globally every year, I hardly consider a couple dozen cases among 1.5 million alarming. Further, the mortality rate is far below 1% in developed countries.

This will have virtually zero impact on anything.

[hotzcatz]

And in the meantime, dump out all containers of water in your yard that filled up from the recent rains. If you have a full time pond, make sure there's mosquito fish inside. Actually, ponds with mosquito fish do a lot to control mosquitoes since they lay their eggs there which then get eaten.

Those "magic mesh" doors are great for letting in the breeze and keeping the mosquitos out.

And as mentioned, the long sleeves and mosquito repellent are good, too!

Anything that is also called "breakbone fever" isn't anything you want to deal with.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by pj737

Considering there are over 100 MILLION cases of Dengue fever globally every year, I hardly consider a couple dozen cases among 1.5 million alarming. Further, the mortality rate is far below 1% in developed countries.

This will have virtually zero impact on anything.

I don't disagree, but when have we ever let facts and perspective get in the way of our ability to host a good old public panic over nothing.
Would hate for a bored mainland media to latch on to this and turn it into the Ebola of the Pacific.

[Mikala43]

I think they mentioned one unrelated case on Oahu.

I'm sure it is unpleasant, but nothing to be alarmed about.

[StarfishKey]

Key West had an outbreak here in the Florida Keys in 2009-2010. It did not make a recognizable dent in tourism, and people have already forgotten about it. For perspective, there were 27 cases the first year alone, and that is on a tiny island less than 2 miles by 4 miles wide, so that was by comparison a worse outbreak than this is so far.

By comparison, Puerto Rico had 5,000 infections in 2012 alone.

It certainly can be serious, but perhaps learning about the Key West outbreak, and its subsequent eradication, will be helpful:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/he...ngue.html?_r=0

Dengue Fever No Longer Just A Visitor To Florida Keys : Shots - Health News : NPR

Dengue Fever, A Tropical Disease, Buzzes Back Into U.S. : NPR

We also have other diseases that spread by mosquito in SFL, such as chikungunya, so combating such issues is not new to us, and is an on-going effort. We have a very large international population, mostly of people who hail from places where mosquito-born illnesses are common, so that means people with such diseases, and possibly mosquitoes carrying the diseases (hidden in luggage), may constantly be entering the area. This puts millions of people in SFL at risk. But so far, outbreaks have been contained, and tourism has really not been much affected at all.

I would say there is no reason for tourists to panic. If they are not particularly immuno-compromised, and if they wear effective bug repellant, they should be fine. The same goes for residents, of course, although the additional work of weeding out parts of the property which harbor standing water (even in thimble-sized amounts) is necessary.

For those wondering what it feels like, and related symptoms to look for:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/22/dengue.fever/

Good luck to all!

[whtviper1]

Considering the Star Advertiser app doesn't even mention it in any of stories at the time I write this, I highly doubt the average tourist even know some people got it.