Recently there has been a large increase in the number of people who have contracted dengue in Hawaii. Both natives and tourists have been warned to take extra precautions as the number of cases continues to rise. The last major outbreak, in 2001, had a total of 92 cases which lasted over 10 months. Today, the number of cases has grown to 136, 119 of them residents and 17 of them visitors on the island.
One thing the article mentioned that I found interesting was that this disease is normally not common in Hawaii. They stated that the disease was most commonly found in Africa and was most likely contracted by someone who came to the island and inevitably spread it. I think this concept is slightly frightening because there's the possibility of dengue or future diseases spreading to the rest of the US. I think it is good that they are advising not only the natives but the tourists as well to take precautions in order to attempt to avoid the disease. This is similar to the various diseases or epidemics that have occured throughout US history including small pox, yellow fever, polio, and influenza.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/08/health/hawaiis-dengue-fever-outbreak-grows.html?ref=us
I agree weirdly frightening. Thinking that a deadly disease could be spread by people who could also have no idea of their condition.
ReplyDeleteThat is a little freaky! I hope it doesn't reach to the height and terrific news Ebola did, and I hope our fellow Americans are staying safe and getting good care!
ReplyDeleteThis is so scary. I agree that it is so odd to think that people could be killing themselves and others by not even being aware of their conditional state.
ReplyDeleteJasmine Rodriguez Period 4
Wow this is definitely very alarming! I hope they can find a solution to this problem! -Nicole Chatham 6th period
ReplyDeleteI agree! It's good that they're taking precautions to ensure that it doesn't spread to other states in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteLauren Bush; 9th