French Polynesia in grip of zika and dengue

Transcript

Health officials in French Polynesia are battling an epidemic of the zika virus and also dengue fever.

Officials say 26,000 people have sought medical help from the zika virus but officials fear many more thousands could be infected because a large proportion of patients do not seek medical attention .   

The French Territory is also coping with a large number of dengue fever cases with 1,553 confirmed, and the total estimated suspected cases is around 15,000, including one death in early November.

The head of the surveillance office in French Polynesia, Dr Henri-Pierre Mallet, told Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor among some people affected by zika, 35 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome have also developed.

HENRI-PIERRE MALLET: We have another problem which I've noticed for now two months. It is that we face an epidemic of probably autoimmune complications, neurological mainly, like Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

MOERA TUILAEPA-TAYLOR: So once you get the zika virus, later on complications can develop from that?

HM: Yes. This is a disease well-known, usually coming after viral infection or viruses like influenza or dengue or other viruses like that.

MTT: Are you getting any assistance from any other regional organisations?

HM: We still are on that with WHO, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Noumea to get scientific assistance, epidemiological assistance to help us to understand exactly what's happening with this virus, which is not well known. We received some support from some people from the army here or things like that, from France. The problem is more with the second phase of hospitalisation because these people with paralysis, they're cured after a few weeks. But they need radiation, they need care after that. and they can specialise the places for radiation and we have only one for that here, which is full. So this is the current problem we have, is to give good care for radiation for these people.