10 Jan 2018

Calls for more information about dengue in Samoa

3:21 pm on 10 January 2018

There is mounting pressure for Samoa's Ministry of Health to increase awareness about the dengue outbreak especially during the tourist season.

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Photo: 123RF

So far the Ministry has revealed the number of cases affected by the mosquito-borne disease increased from 1,700 to nearly 2,500 since October and there have been five deaths so far.

But it is uncertain whether these deaths included people who travelled to Samoa from New Zealand but then died after contracting dengue fever and were buried back in Aotearoa.

Our correspondent Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia said that health officials seemed very reluctant to release more details, especially to media.

"There's a lot of speculation with people talking about how this is not the right figure of deaths from dengue fever and they suspect it should be more than five. The mentality that we have here in Samoa and how to keep things or to make people calm down or not to give any information that might cause panic."

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