Marshall Islands: 2020 Dengue

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Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/...hammers-majuro

'Worse than ever': Ongoing dengue epidemic hammers Majuro
9:21 am today
By Giff Johnson, Marshall Islands correspondent
Five months after a dengue fever outbreak started in Majuro, the outbreak is getting worse.

After numbers dropped to less than 10 cases per day after peaking at 30 on 20 November, the government's Cabinet ended a directive that had banned travel to remote outer islands for four months in an effort to contain the problem from spreading.

But since Christmas, the number of dengue fever cases in the capital of the Marshall Islands has been climbing again, with a record 41 cases seen at Majuro hospital on 13 January.

The hospital has been seeing an average of over 20 dengue cases daily for the past three weeks, according to data provided by the Ministry of Health and Human Services.

"People think this is over and it's worse than ever," said Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal.

A total of 162 dengue cases were reported in Majuro this past week - the highest one-week total since the outbreak in Majuro started five months ago, confirming that dengue is not only not on the wane, it is getting worse...

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Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/...rshall-islands

Dengue fever outbreak claims two more lives in the Marshall Islands
7:54 am today
Giff Johnson, RNZI Contributor

Majuro - Two Marshall Islanders died from dengue fever this week at Majuro hospital emphasizing the severity of the outbreak now in its eighth month.

An elementary-aged girl from Arno, a remote atoll about 15 miles from the capital Majuro, and a 67-year-old woman in Majuro are the latest victims bringing the death toll to three since the outbreak started last July on Ebeye Island.

The number of confirmed and suspected cases of dengue fever has risen to over 2,500...

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Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/...rshall-islands

Dengue fever hangs on in Marshall Islands
5:37 pm on 14 September 2020
Giff Johnson, Editor, Marshall Islands Journal / RNZ Pacific correspondent

Fourteen months after an outbreak of dengue fever hit the Marshall Islands, the country cannot shake the mosquito-borne illness.
Authorities are concerned about spread to remote islands such as Jaluit Atoll

It raised the question of whether dengue was becoming an endemic illness for the first time.

After averaging over 200 cases per week in the January and February period, the number of cases dropped significantly, hitting single digits per week for most of the May through July period. But an uptick in the number of cases is apparent in recent weeks.

Four of the past five weeks have produced double-digit numbers at Majuro hospital. Though still small in comparison to earlier this year, the rise in dengue numbers are concerning health authorities who have called on the government to resume promoting prevention protocols to reduce dengue fever spread.

An emergency medical situation involving a patient from an outer atoll with dengue fever the first week of September has increased concern at the ministry of about a possible resurgence of the illness on remote outer islands - which have seen almost no cases for the past two months...