Type 4 dengue presents new danger
NOUMÉA, New Caledonia (Oceania Flash, Dec. 3, 2008) - The number of reported cases of serotype four dengue fever, a form of the virus that was until recently not prevalent in New Caledonia, continues to rise in the northern part of the main island of the French Pacific territory, local media report.
A first type four case (found on a person who had not been traveling recently in the Pacific region, where Fiji is particularly affected with well over two thousand cases) was detected last month, prompting local health authorities to express concern at a combined epidemic of the already prevalent serotype 1 of the mosquito-borne disease.
The other seven, more recent cases, were also found in the past few days on persons living in the suburbs of the Northern town of Koné, near the Melanesian village of Baco.
They include three confirmed cases of the serotype four while the serotype of the other four remains to be analyzed....