Teams beat the bushes for infected Big Isle folk

In a further effort to combat dengue fever, teams consisting of personnel from state, Hawaii County and nonprofit agencies have been canvassing Hawaii island over the past week looking for people in underserved populations — the homeless, non-English speakers and those living in isolated areas — to connect them with health care providers.

But after training from state Department of Health personnel Monday, Hawaii County paramedics who are part of those teams now have the capability to draw blood in the field and send samples to the state’s laboratory on Oahu.

Ilihia Gionson, Hawaii County spokesman, said drawing blood in the field is being done only as a last resort when a person declines to see a doctor or other service provider.

“The preference is to connect them with a medical provider,” Gionson said, especially because they might end up being diagnosed with other ailments that can’t be helped in the field.

Dr. Virginia Pressler, state health director, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that state and Hawaii County officials are working with the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and other nonprofit agencies to provide the service.

Pressler said teams consisting of health care providers, paramedics, translators and social service workers are canvassing areas known to have at-risk populations that don’t normally have access to health care.

On Monday the Health Department reported that the number of confirmed cases of dengue fever on the island jumped by five, placing the total since the recent outbreak began in mid-September at 112.

Of the total, 98 are Big Island residents and 14 are visitors; 86 are adults and 26 are under 18. The agency also reported Monday that 262 “reported potential cases” came back with negative results for dengue.

Pressler said the state laboratory on Oahu can analyze blood samples and provide test results within 24 hours of receiving samples from physicians or other health care providers of those suspected of contracting dengue. Setting up a lab on Hawaii island, as some have suggested, would not be cost-effective, she said.

Lyle Petersen, director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arrived in the state Monday night and will work with local officials to assess the outbreak and the response, Pressler said.

There have been no reported confirmed cases of anyone contracting the disease on Oahu. One East Oahu resident contracted the disease overseas and is not considered part of the Hawaii outbreak.

But Pressler joined Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and other city officials at a news conference encouraging residents to be vigilant and take safeguards such as pouring out standing water from pots, gardens, rain gutters and everywhere else liquid can accumulate.

The city is taking similar precautions at its facilities, various agency chiefs said.