Mombasa, KENYA: Mombasa residents have been advised to take precautionary measures following the outbreak of dengue fever in the county with at least 153 cases confirmed by county health officers.
County Chief Officer of Health Khadija Shikely confirmed Kisauni is the most affected among the six sub counties with 37 cases, followed by Mvita with 25, Changamwe and Likoni both with 21.
Out of the 153 case reported, 119 have been recorded in private hospitals while public hospitals have reported 34 according to county health executive Binti Omar.
Through a memo to respective officers in the sub counties, health chief officer Khadija Shikely called for immediate response from health departments to help contain the situation and avoid further spread of the fever.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus whose symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. This may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash.
The World Health Organization WHO estimates that 40 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas prone to this disease and up to 100 million people get infected annually.
Out of these, about 500,000 are asymptomatic or show significant symptoms of the disease while about 22,000 die from the illness each year.
Residents have been advised to sleep under mosquito nets and employ mosquito control measures including bush clearance and the drainage of stagnant water.
