Current Travel Health News
Travel Health News Digest (20 February 2004)
This year to date, 25 cases of dengue fever with 3 deaths were reported.
Last year health authorities of Honduras reported 7397 cases of dengue and 111 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever with 2 deaths.
In 2002 there was one case, but from Sep-Dec there were 1741 cases, including 16 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever, one of them fatal.
(Source: ProMED-mail 16 February 2004)
Health officials of Sri Lanka detected 11 suspected positive dengue fever cases with one death in Trincomalee town recently.
(Source: ProMED-mail 16 February 2004)
[Editor Note: Trincomalee is situated in the northeast coastal region of the country.]
Australia ( Queensland): Dengue fever
Hundreds of people across north Queensland and the Torres Strait have contracted dengue fever in recent months. At least 200 have been infected in the latest outbreak on Thursday Island.
The greatest concern to health authorities are 3 cases of the potentially fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever, with one case on Thursday Island and two cases on Yam Island.
(Source: ProMED-mail 16 February 2004)
In Singapore, within a recent 2 weeks period, 6 clusters of dengue fever were identified in the Tanjong Katong area. Each cluster involved 2 or more cases.
Last year, 796 households were found breeding mosquitoes, a jump of over 50 percent compared to 2001. A total of 4772 people fell ill with the disease -- the highest number since 1998.
(Source: ProMED-mail 16 February 2004)
As of 18 February this year, 8,135 cases of dengue fever infection were reported in Indonesia, with 175 deaths. Java was the most affected region. In the capital Jakarta, dengue fever already infected 2,518 people and claimed another 17, twice the number hospitalized in the same period of 2003.
Health officials warmed that the current epidemic in the capital and other cities will be further aggravated by the heavy rains and flooding of the rivers.
(Source: Central News Agency 20 February 2004)
[Editor Note: Travellers to South and Southeast Asia should adopt anti-mosquito measures. Should fever develop within 2 weeks on return, they should suspect dengue and seek medical attention immediately, and inform travel history.]