Alarm raised on Dengue Fever cases at the Coast

By Linah Benyawa

KENYA: At least 58 cases of Dengue Fever have been confirmed in Mombasa County in two months, according to medical research experts.

The experts disclosed in Mombasa yesterday that 34 samples are still undergoing testing.  Within this period, 148 samples from a similar number of suspected cases were taken for tests at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) in Nairobi and 58 turned out to be positive with the virus causing dengue fever.

The researchers said that 56 samples were negative and disclosed that warm weather conditions in Coast have spurred the breeding of the mosquito spreading the diseases, which can be fatal and hemorrhagic in severe cases.

Researchers from Kemri-CDC disclosed that the cases had been detected as early as in January this year in private hospitals, but more were reported early March.

Out of the cases, 47 per cent were female while the other 53 per cent were male. Following the outbreak, a group of eight researchers from Kemri-CDC are conducting investigations to find out how the fever manifested itself in the area.

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Abdinoor Mohammed, a researcher with Kemri-CDC, said the situation is worrying though no deaths had been reported yet.

“We have received about 148 suspected cases of Dengue Fever from Mombasa and out of them 58 have turned positive while the results of 34 cases are still pending,” said Dr Mohammed.

He confirmed that out of the specimens taken to their laboratory, 50 per cent of the cases were reported by Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa, which he said, was one of the private hospitals whose surveillance system was working.

He explained that most cases were from Mombasa Island with a few from Kwale and Kilifi counties.

“At least 15 cases have been confirmed in Mombasa Island area that has mostly been affected by the fever although none of the cases tested were severe,” he explained.

The areas that are prone to the fever are Kisauni and Changamwe in Mombasa. They attributed the high cases to poor sanitation since the mosquitoes associated with the fever are said to like hiding in empty containers and drums.