The Director of Health in Tokelau says over 200 people have had chikungunya since August but the peak of the outbreak is over now with no new cases in the past few days.
Transcript
The Director of Health in Tokelau says over 200 people have had chikungunya since August but the peak of the outbreak is over now with no new cases in the past few days.
Dr Silivia Tavite says Tokelau has a population of 1,400 people and clinics on all three atolls have seen patients with the mosquito-borne illness.
She gave Jenny Meyer an update on the current situation.
SILIVIA TAVITE: So as of the last update that we had two weeks ago a total of about 203 in Tokelau. And from two days ago there haven't been any cases reported from Atafu and Nukunonu that we have received.
JENNY MEYER: So you're hoping you're over the worst of it, are you?
ST: We have been over the worst of it. We have also uplifted our border control approaches for Tokelau which include spraying of the incoming boats and screening of incoming and outgoing passengers, we have uplifted that. We have got laboratory confirmation of chikungunya to be positive in all three communities. However the outbreak is under control now.
JM: So did you need to do anything else to try and contain the outbreak? Were schools still operating for example?
ST: For all Tokelau, there was no advice on closing of schools. We continued programmes to eradicate adult mosquitos as well as breeding sites for mosquitos and health education to all people. We increased the surveillance in all hospitals, especially the availability of medication for patients for management of patients with chikungunya.
JM: And has everyone recovered allright who has come done with this illness?
ST; Yes, people have been affected and recovered well. We haven't had severe cases that would need further referral outside of Tokelau. We had a few patients admitted just for close monitoring and they were discharged to go home within one or two days. With the surveillance reporting we have, with the 203, these were based on hospital data. So all these people were seen at the hospital, as you know in our communities, there are no other health providers other than our hospitals. So they all go to be seen by their respective hospital and each village has one hospital so all these patients visit the hospital to seek medical support. And we also provided advise for the community for whoever felt they had symptoms, to contact the hospital as soon as possible.
JM: So the main symptoms that people have to look out for, what are they?
ST: These were high fever, joint pain, and some present with headache, with vomiting, some with skin rash; so either one of these symptoms, patients were advised to inform the hospital.
The Director of Health in Tokelau says over 200 people have had chikungunya since August but the peak of the outbreak is over now with no new cases in the past few days.
Dr Silivia Tavite says Tokelau has a population of 1400 people and clinics on all three atolls have seen patients with the mosquito borne illness.
She gave Jenny Meyer an update on the current situation.
SILIVIA TAVITE: So as of the last update that we had two weeks ago a total of about 203 in Tokelau. And from two days ago there haven't been any cases reported from Atafu and Nukunonu that we have received.
JENNY MEYER: So you're hoping you're over the worst of it, are you?
ST: We have been over the worst of it. We have also uplifted our border control approaches for Tokelau which include spraying of the incoming boats and screening of incoming and outgoing passengers, we have uplifted that. We have got laboratory confirmation of chikungunya to be positive in all three communities. However the outbreak is under control now.
JM: So did you need to do anything else to try and contain the outbreak? Were schools still operating for example?
ST: For all Tokelau, there was no advice on closing of schools. We continued programmes to eradicate adult mosquitos as well as breeding sites for mosquitos and health education to all people. We increased the surveillance in all hospitals, especially the availability of medication for patients for management of patients with chikungunya.
JM: And has everyone recovered allright who has come done with this illness?
ST; Yes, people have been affected and recovered well. We haven't had severe cases that would need further referral outside of Tokelau. We had a few patients admitted just for close monitoring and they were discharged to go home within one or two days. With the surveillance reporting we have, with the 203, these were based on hospital data. So all these people were seen at the hospital, as you know in our communities, there are no other health providers other than our hospitals. So they all go to be seen by their respective hospital and each village has one hospital so all these patients visit the hospital to seek medical support. And we also provided advise for the community for whoever felt they had symptoms, to contact the hospital as soon as possible.
JM: So the main symptoms that people have to look out for, what are they?
ST: These were high fever, joint pain, and some present with headache, with vomiting, some with skin rash; so either one of these symptoms, patients were advised to inform the hospital.
The Director of Health in Tokelau says over 200 people have had chikungunya since August but the peak of the outbreak is over now with no new cases in the past few days.
Dr Silivia Tavite says Tokelau has a population of 1400 people and clinics on all three atolls have seen patients with the mosquito borne illness.
She gave Jenny Meyer an update on the current situation.
SILIVIA TAVITE: So as of the last update that we had two weeks ago a total of about 203 in Tokelau. And from two days ago there haven't been any cases reported from Atafu and Nukunonu that we have received.
JENNY MEYER: So you're hoping you're over the worst of it, are you?
ST: We have been over the worst of it. We have also uplifted our border control approaches for Tokelau which include spraying of the incoming boats and screening of incoming and outgoing passengers, we have uplifted that. We have got laboratory confirmation of chikungunya to be positive in all three communities. However the outbreak is under control now.
JM: So did you need to do anything else to try and contain the outbreak? Were schools still operating for example?
ST: For all Tokelau, there was no advice on closing of schools. We continued programmes to eradicate adult mosquitos as well as breeding sites for mosquitos and health education to all people. We increased the surveillance in all hospitals, especially the availability of medication for patients for management of patients with chikungunya.
JM: And has everyone recovered allright who has come done with this illness?
ST; Yes, people have been affected and recovered well. We haven't had severe cases that would need further referral outside of Tokelau. We had a few patients admitted just for close monitoring and they were discharged to go home within one or two days. With the surveillance reporting we have, with the 203, these were based on hospital data. So all these people were seen at the hospital, as you know in our communities, there are no other health providers other than our hospitals. So they all go to be seen by their respective hospital and each village has one hospital so all these patients visit the hospital to seek medical support. And we also provided advise for the community for whoever felt they had symptoms, to contact the hospital as soon as possible.
JM: So the main symptoms that people have to look out for, what are they?
ST: These were high fever, joint pain, and some present with headache, with vomiting, some with skin rash; so either one of these symptoms, patients were advised to inform the hospital.
Dr Tavite says that while there is always room for improvement, she is happy with the way the outbreak was dealt with, given Tokelau's resources.
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