Mosquitoes

Brought

A Killer

From SEONA MARTIN in Suva The dreaded dengue is on the wane now in Fiji. But not before claiming several lives and costing untold amounts in lost man-hours.

What began with the minor irrita tion of a mosquito bite back in Feb ruary this year developed into a major, potentially fatal, epidemic in the past two months.

The villain of the piece is the Aedes aegypti day-biting mosquito, the only insect in Fiji which carries, and transmits to humans, the dengue virus.

Some days after the bite—and doctors are not too sure just how long after—the victim develops a raging fever, vicious headache, aching joints and possibly a rash. In some suf ferers, for no known reason, other more sinister symptoms appear.

They begin bleeding—either vomit ing blood, bleeding from nose or showing red spots on the skin. They lose body fluid, plasma and develop signs of shock. In some cases, they die.

There is still no known cure for the fever, although it is not neces sarily fatal.

Fiji’s epidemic was heralded by a cautious statement in early February from the Ministry of Health that blood samples sent to New Zealand for analysis had showed strong evi dence of a dengue virus infection.

By early March four people had died, more than 500 cases of dengue were recorded and Suva was in the ?rip of a crippling epidemic.

Two medical experts, Dr Terry Vlaguire from Otago University and Or Dwayne Reed, from the South pacific Commission, Noumea, con irmed that the outbreak was Type Dne strain dengue, the one which caused the haemorrhagic fever.

This type had caused an epidemic n the South Pacific, including Fiji, luring World War 11. The doctors’ confirmation shocked the community Hit of an apathy mainly caused by he fact that the previous dengue epidemic, in 1971, had not been learly as dangerous.

The ’7l epidemic was of Type Two lengue, which infected, but did not ill, 20,000 to 30,000 people in Fiji.

The total number infected in this atest outbreak is still to be com

puted, but it will run into many thousands.

As there is no cure or vaccination for the fever, the only way to break the epidemic was by eradicating the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The insect breeds prolifically in containers, which means it is a domestic insect pest lurking in such place as old tyres, empty tins, flower vases, pot-plant saucers, fallen up turned palm fronds, or any other sort of container in which a little water could be trapped.

It has a seven-day breeding cycle, so a weekly check of possible breed ing spots could virtually eradicate the pest.

As the epidemic mounted, health workers swung into action with a limited supply of insecticide-spraying equipment and a massive public education campaign to destroy the mosquito.

A special sprayer mounted on the back of a truck which was flown in from Australia was a major help to the campaign. But the peak of the epidemic had not then been reached and meanwhile, unknowing victims carried the disease to all comers of the country and to other Pacific Islands.

Throughout the epidemic’s height, Fiji people remained stoic. No-one panicked, which is perhaps why the outbreak lasted so long.

With more than six deaths in Fiji and eight in Tonga, people may be gin regarding the mosquito for the menace it is and give support to the health authorities repetitive and largely ineffective eradication cam paigns.