Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Malaria-like ailment rife?
By Luana Paniu
A scientific study along the Angabanga River in Mekeo has found that 73 per cent of people from eight villages in Mekeo and Goilala have been diagnosed with the mosquito borne disease, Japanese Encephalitis (JE).
The disease was mistaken for malaria or dengue fever by the sufferers, the study by Dr Takatua Taufa, a PNG citizen and former associate professor of public health and tropical medicine at the James Cook University in Australia, revealed.
Dr Taufa?s study covered the Auga River, a tributary of the main Angabanga River in Kairuku Dis-trict of Central Province.
The tests were carried out at the Mekeo villages of Gagaifua, Veifa?a, Oriropetana, Inauwaia, Oreke, Inika and in the Goilala villages of Tula and Polomononia.
Test results were sent to two separate laboratories in Queensland and Sydney for comparability of data.
Dr Taufa said this disease has been mostly mistaken because of its similar symptoms.
He said the same mistake was made during World War II when Australian troops fought along the Kokoda Trail amid wet and difficult conditions and had taken ill with malaria type symptoms.
Dr Taufa said there was significantly more dengue positives among the study then control groups with evidence that transmission cycle was also similarly continued to that of the JE results.
According to the World Health Organisation, the JE is a viral disease that infects animals and humans. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and in humans, and causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain.
It is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30,000 to 50,000 clinical cases reported annually and usually breeds in flooded rice fields.
Its usual hosts are birds and pigs however, flooding leads to explosive build up of mosquito population which results in the virus spilling over to humans.
JE is caused by flavivirus that affects the membranes around the brain. Signs of JE are mild (fever and headache) or without apparent symptoms, but about one in 200 infections results in severe disease characterised by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and death.
According to Dr Phillip Golpak, the Acting Director Medical Services at the Port Moresby General Hospital, a vaccine is not available at the hospital because the reported cases were rare to none.
He said the virus can be treated with supportive care from relatives to ensure the patient takes plenty of fluids and nutrition.
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20110713/news07.htm
By Luana Paniu
A scientific study along the Angabanga River in Mekeo has found that 73 per cent of people from eight villages in Mekeo and Goilala have been diagnosed with the mosquito borne disease, Japanese Encephalitis (JE).
The disease was mistaken for malaria or dengue fever by the sufferers, the study by Dr Takatua Taufa, a PNG citizen and former associate professor of public health and tropical medicine at the James Cook University in Australia, revealed.
Dr Taufa?s study covered the Auga River, a tributary of the main Angabanga River in Kairuku Dis-trict of Central Province.
The tests were carried out at the Mekeo villages of Gagaifua, Veifa?a, Oriropetana, Inauwaia, Oreke, Inika and in the Goilala villages of Tula and Polomononia.
Test results were sent to two separate laboratories in Queensland and Sydney for comparability of data.
Dr Taufa said this disease has been mostly mistaken because of its similar symptoms.
He said the same mistake was made during World War II when Australian troops fought along the Kokoda Trail amid wet and difficult conditions and had taken ill with malaria type symptoms.
Dr Taufa said there was significantly more dengue positives among the study then control groups with evidence that transmission cycle was also similarly continued to that of the JE results.
According to the World Health Organisation, the JE is a viral disease that infects animals and humans. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and in humans, and causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain.
It is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30,000 to 50,000 clinical cases reported annually and usually breeds in flooded rice fields.
Its usual hosts are birds and pigs however, flooding leads to explosive build up of mosquito population which results in the virus spilling over to humans.
JE is caused by flavivirus that affects the membranes around the brain. Signs of JE are mild (fever and headache) or without apparent symptoms, but about one in 200 infections results in severe disease characterised by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and death.
According to Dr Phillip Golpak, the Acting Director Medical Services at the Port Moresby General Hospital, a vaccine is not available at the hospital because the reported cases were rare to none.
He said the virus can be treated with supportive care from relatives to ensure the patient takes plenty of fluids and nutrition.
http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20110713/news07.htm