Health teams from New Zealand and Australia are providing a much needed boost to help control a dengue outbreak in Solomon Islands.
Last week, a report totalled the number of sufferers at 3,189, up 485 on the week before.
The Permanent Secretary of Health, Dr Lester Ross, says the number of provinces with dengue has risen to seven, with the Central Province reporting its first ten cases.
With almost 89 percent of cases in Honiara, he says people are now choosing to go directly to the hospital.
"Because of the triage system that is in place, and working very well in the National Referral Hospital, that was strengthened by the New Zealand and Australian teams that are currently helping us, and so it appears as if people are not even going to their clinics. We have about eight clinics in Honiara, [but] people are coming direct to the National Referral Hospital."
Dr Lester Ross says a 13-year-old girl is the latest victim to die from the mosquito-borne viral disease, bringing the total number of deaths in Solomon Islands to four.
