Health

No significant threat of chicken pox: Dr Waqainabete

January 20, 2020 5:00 pm

The Health Minister has clarified there is no major threat of chickenpox, despite reports that some cases have been highlighted amongst Fijians.

The Health Minister has clarified there is no major threat of chickenpox, despite reports that some cases have been highlighted amongst Fijians.

Speaking to FBC News from Namara in Tailevu, the Minister says there are a few cases identified, however, it isn’t so significant.

Dr Waqainabete says he was briefed on the health status of the country this morning and there were no red-flag raised about chickenpox.

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“If there were significant numbers of chickenpox I would have been alerted. We have an early warning system that are in place for communicable diseases but so far this morning I was briefed and there was nothing on chickenpox. There may be some around but not significant in numbers.”

Dr Waqainabete adds his team is currently on the ground continuing their work in rural areas ensuring Fijians are well-informed of diseases that often spread during this rainy season.

“We are doing some advocacy around public health and decreasing leptospirosis, typhoid, dengue, measles, tuberculosis and that’s the type of thing that we should be doing on a regular basis.”

The Health Minister says their continuous effort in ensuring Fijians are safe has resulted in the reduced number of diseases normally recorded this season.