Uncle of dengue victim, says Tonga needs help to control epidemic [1]
Friday, February 2, 2018 - 15:16. Updated on Friday, February 2, 2018 - 15:16.
The uncle of a New Zealand girl Toafei Telefoni (12) who died from dengue in Tonga last week, says he and his family are concerned there is a lack of medical facilities to detect the disease in Tonga and people need to be better informed.
John McCaffery, an academic at the University of Auckland, told Matangi Tonga that his niece died “after going into Dengue Hemmoragic Shock without hospital treatment”.
“Tonga apparently still has no laboratory facilities to do the required blood tests for dengue, especially the close monitoring needed to know if the virus is going to advance to critical life threatening,” he said.
He said people at his niece’s funeral did not know much about the type of mosquito that spreads dengue. “This mosquito almost always bites only in daytime. Most active 2-3 hours after sunrise and 2-3 before sunset.”
“It does not like extreme heat or cold so hides in cupboards and dark places during the middle of the day and at night." He pointed out that people need to use nets when sleeping during the daytime not just at night.
He said one member of his extended family who went to Tonga to help build a family home in Ma’ufanga was diagnosed with dengue by a private doctor and has self-evacuated to New Zealand for treatment. He had also heard of a Tongan returning to the UK with suspected dengue.
“We are concerned that NZ’s travel advisory service still has no advice for people travelling to Tonga.”
John and his family also believe New Zealand should help to provide medical assistance in order to avoid another tragedy. "We believe this is a very serious widespread epidemic that requires NZ's help," he said.
The Tonga health authorities yesterday launched national campaign to control the spread of dengue, with teams visiting villages throughout Tongatapu. To date, 33 cases of dengue have been confirmed.