Nairobi County executive committee member for health Bernard Muia. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUPSummary
- Dr Muia said that the county is on high alert and a team has been set up to respond to cases should they be reported in the City.
- The county government has also called upon the residents to ensure that they are sleeping in treated mosquito nets as a preventive measure.
Nairobi County is at a high risk of an outbreak of dengue fever due to movement of people from the coastal region to the city.
This follows an outbreak of the fever in Mombasa that has affected over 150 people in the last two days.
The County Executive for Health Bernard Muia said that people travelling to the city and infected may spread the disease as it is transmitted through mosquito bites.
Dr Muia said that the county is on high alert and a team has been set up to respond to cases should they be reported in the City.
“We are at a high alert as someone can travel from Mombasa where cases have been reported and since the disease has an incubation period of between 3-14 days, they can move to the city without knowledge leading to spread of the fever,” said Dr Muia on Tuesday at City Hall.
STOP BREEDING
He said that the team is also sensitising the public on draining of stagnant water to avoid breeding of mosquitoes.
Dr Muia said that they are also spraying areas that have high mosquito infestation.
The county government has also called upon the residents to ensure that they are sleeping in treated mosquito nets as a preventive measure.
Dr Muia said that the symptoms of the fever are similar to those of Malaria and if not treated early it might lead to death.
The symptoms include, general body weakness, severe headache, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands or distinctive rash.
For sever cases, patients also experience intense stomach pain, frequent vomiting, bleeding from the nose or gums and hypertension and can lead to death.
There is no vaccine against the fever, he said.
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