Disease

Dengue Fever in Hawaii

Four more people were diagnosed with dengue fever on Hawaii's Big Island today (Nov. 5), raising the number of locally transmitted cases to 19 people, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health.

Health officials say these "locally transmitted" cases are concerning because, although dengue has popped up sporadically in Hawaii before, in most previous cases, the disease was imported, meaning travellers brought it to the islands from elsewhere. In the new cases, people are contracting dengue from the bites of local mosquitoes.

Scarlet Fever Re-Emerges In Asia and Europe

Despite having been largely eliminated from countries for almost a century, outbreaks of the childhood disease known as scarlet fever (scarlatina) have been tracked in Europe and Asia in the past five years and is showing an increased resistance to antibiotic treatment.

Over the past five years there have been more than 5000 cases in Hong Kong (a 10-fold increase) and more than 100,000 cases in China. An outbreak in the UK has resulted in 12,000 cases since last year.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), scarlet fever can affect individuals from different age groups, but the disease is mostly seen in children between 5 years old and 12 years old.