PAPEETE (Oceania Flash) — An outbreak of the mosquito-borne dengue fever in French Polynesia is now believed to have spread from a Type 1 to the more rare Type 2, health officials said at the weekend.
Infectious diseases office head at the ministry of health, Dr. Axel Wiegandt said the first case Type 2 dengue fever, which is rarely occurring in French Polynesia, has been detected a child, in Faa’a town, near the international airport on the main island of Tahiti.
Wiegandt said it is now time to step up the current information and prevention campaign.
The campaign was triggered as early as September last year, in the face of the Type 1 dengue “pre-epidemic” situation.
For the past six months, close to 500 cases of Type 1 dengue fever had been detected.
A task force has been set up to increase preventive measures against the potentially deadly virus.
The most affected areas are the capital Papeete, but also towns in the outskirts, such as Faa’a, where the international airport is located.
The health ministry said it has also stepped up its prevention and detection campaign, which began as early as Oct. 2006.
Wiegandt has repeatedly called on the population to clean up any areas — whether bushes or waste — that could be seen as breeding sites for mosquito larvae.
Health authorities however say because of the 2001 epidemic, and the response it triggered, most of the population should still be immune, “which would not allow an epidemic eruption as serious as that of 2001.”
Since Aug. 2006, French Polynesia’s health authorities have stepped up awareness and prevention campaigns against the mosquito-borne dengue fever.
The French Pacific country’s health services have decided to go into pre-alert mode, with a strong focus on teams touring the main island of Tahiti and its capital Papeete, but also nearby Moorea island and the atoll of Bora Bora.
The plan of action involves mainly reminding the population on basic preventive measures to stop mosquito larvae from breeding.
The most commonly identified breeding sites are still waters remaining that accumulate in old tires, pots, and bushes.
An aggravating factor was also the heavy rains that have marked French Polynesia’s weather pattern over the past few months.
The health department teams are also reinforcing the message by distributing leaflets summing up the main steps to be taken.
The action plan also includes an early insecticide spraying campaign that began in October four months ago.
Dr. Axel Wiegandt said the concern is now that the wet season and its heavy rains and humidity toll could only make things worse.
Five years ago, an epidemic of type 1 dengue fever broke out in French Polynesia, but also in New Caledonia, another French Pacific territory.
At the time, in French Polynesia, over 30,000 cases were detected, including over a thousand persons (including close to 450 in a serious condition) who had to be admitted to hospital for treatment.
Mosquitoes transmit dengue fever.
Its most apparent symptoms are joint, muscular and back pains, high fever, and in the advanced stages, internal hemorrhage.
When left untreated, it can be fatal.