Dengue in Guam since 1988: 41, Dengue in Palau since 2018: 570
Dengue outbreak persists with addition of 26 new dengue cases reported from August 26th to September 1st, bringing total of reported cases since December to 570 cases out of which 490 are Palauans.
The month of July saw 141 cases in total and the most recent report by Ministry of Health states that 127 cases were recorded in August.
Cases had started decline but in May to August, had quadrupled with 141 cases reported in July alone. Of the total 570 cases of dengue cases reported, 160 cases were Sero-typed DENV-3.
According to Gaafar Uherbelau who is an Administrator at Ministry of Health, there have been two deaths so far attributed to dengue
The initial statistics states that there have been two deaths attributed to dengue, however, when inquired about the statistics, the MOH shared fresh statistics suggesting there has been one death so far.
Cherie Rengil of MOH said,” It was mentioned in the Press Conference with the President this week that two deaths have been confirmed. The second death count was not confirmed to have occurred within the reporting dates (August 26 – September 01, 2019). Until it is confirmed, the information provided will follow”
“The Emergency Operations Committee reviews a number of report drafts before the final copy is approved by our Incident Commander for dissemination. This is to ensure that the information we share with the public is accurate and correct,” Rengiil added.
On September 1st alone there have been 6 cases out of which 4 are from Koror followed by 1 in Aimelik and 1 in Melekeok.
The highest number of dengue patients up till now have been Palauan followed by 30 Bangladeshis, 21 Filipinos, 11 Chinese and 18 from other nationality.
Age group 10-19 is most affected by dengue and 60 above is the least affected age group. There have been cases of dengue in the age group of 0-9 as well.
Most cases of dengue have been detected in Koror with a total of 416 cases followed by 46 cases in Airai, 28 cases in Aimeliik, 19 cases in Melekeok, 12 cases in Ngatpang, 10 cases in Ngaremlengui, 7 cases in Ngaraard, 7 cases in Ngarchelong, 5 cases in Peleliu, 2 cases in Ngchesar, 2 cases in Ngiwal, 1 cases om Ngardmau and 1 case in Kayangel.
Since the declaration of the outbreak, there has been one case of a tourist being infected by dengue.
However, there are 13 cases that are pending and hasn’t been allocated demographically in the MOH stats.
In Guam there have been two cases of dengue this year and Guam authorities suggest that one of the cases was detected from a person who travelled to Palau and other from a person arriving from Yap.
Since 1988 there have been 41 cases of dengue in Guam and Guam authorities call two new cases as ‘imported dengue’.
There have been efforts from MOH and Koror State to spread awareness and conduct clean up drives and President Remengesau has signed a proclamation last month declaring 13th of September as a Micronesia clean-up day urging all the ministries and residents to participate. (By Eshan Kalyanikar)