Samoa’s Director General of Health Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma has confirmed that a life threatening type of dengue fever was the cause of death of a 12-year-old boy who was medevaced from Samoa to New Zealand.
Talamua Media quotes Aiono saying that the boy was admitted on Wednesday in very serious condition and was diagnosed with hemorrhagic dengue fever. He was medevaced to New Zealand a few days later but died Sunday at the Starship Childrens Hospital in Auckland.
According to Talamua, the boy’s family recently moved home last month from Fiji where an outbreak of dengue fever was declared with one confirmed death from dengue.
Officials of the American Samoa Department of Health last week urged residents to get rid of containers where water collects and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Symptoms of dengue fever include high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, and joint and muscle pain.
