Frustrated state Sen. Russell Ruderman said he wants health officials to do more to tackle the dengue fever outbreak, accusing the state of foot-dragging and being Oahu-centric in dealing with the situation.
“Little fire ants, coqui frogs … these have all been ignored because they were Big Island problems, but when they show up on Oahu, alarms sound,” said Ruderman (D, Puna), who represents one of the regions with the largest concentration of reported cases.
“It would be foolish for people to think that this (dengue situation) will remain a Big Island problem,” he said. “So even if they don’t care about us over here, the strategically correct thing is to nail it wherever it shows up, even if it’s here on the Big Island.”
Ruderman’s comments came as the Health Department reported that the number of cases on Hawaii island rose by six, pushing the total confirmed cases there since the recent outbreak began in September to 107.
Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said no tests were conducted on Thanksgiving.
Ruderman wants the Department of Health to look seriously at putting a temporary testing laboratory on Hawaii island so those suspected of contracting dengue fever can get test results more quickly.
Okubo, in response, said that following a similar outbreak on Maui in 2011, the state laboratory in Honolulu gained the capability to test for dengue. That negates the need for samples to be sent to the mainland for testing, reducing the turnaround time to a few days, she said.
But Ruderman said response time could be even quicker if a temporary testing site was on the island, and he dismissed the suggestion by health officials that such a move would technically not be possible.
Officials on Oahu also don’t appreciate the nuances of the Hawaii island lifestyle and the fact that many live in remote areas without access to the Internet, television or other electronic media, Ruderman said. That requires a greater and more focused effort to get the word out, he said.
“I’m glad for what they’re doing, but they need to do much, much more,” he said.
A map of the outbreak shows confirmed cases throughout the island, with the Captain Cook section of South Kona identified as the area of greatest risk for potential infection. Parts of the island identified as having a moderate risk include Kailua-Kona, Naalehu, Hilo, Mountain View, Pahoa and other areas of Puna.
The disease is mosquito-borne and cannot be contracted directly from person to person. For symptoms and other FAQs, go to health.hawaii.gov/docd/dengue-outbreak-2015.
More than two-thirds of suspected cases have turned out to be negative, Okubo said. And of the confirmed cases, all have recovered or are recovering, she said.
