State records
fewer typhus casesHowever, Oahu has more cases
so far this year than last year
WAILUKU -- Hawaii has recorded 17 cases of murine typhus for the first eight months of this year, compared with 24 cases for the same period last year, according to the state Health Department.
Oahu has more cases this year -- five as of the first week of September compared with two for the same period in 2002, state officials said yesterday. Four cases were reported in Waianae and one in Ewa.
Health officials noted that in most years, statewide typhus cases number 10 or fewer. Last year, there were 47 cases of typhus, the highest total since the mid-1940s.
State health spokeswoman Darcie Yukimura said yesterday the increase in Oahu numbers was not significant and could be attributed to a number of factors, including a heightened awareness of the infection and an increase in reporting cases.
People typically contract murine typhus from fleas that first bite an infected rodent and then bite a human being.
Lorie Whitseth, a state epidemiologist on Maui, said she does not know the reason for the overall decrease in the number of cases from last year, but there has been a decrease in the rodent population on the Valley Isle this year.
State workers spread poison oats in areas of Maui earlier last year to get rid of rodents, but Whitseth said she did not know if attempts to control the rodent population were linked to a decrease in typhus cases.
Symptoms of murine typhus include rash, fever, body aches and headaches. The infection can be treated with antibiotics.
On Maui this year's cases have been scattered in various areas, Whitseth said. The 11 cases on Maui include one each in Kula, Haiku, Kahului, Paia and Pukalani, with two in Lahaina and four in Kihei.
Whitseth said a Haiku man and a Kihei man were each hospitalized for three days after contracting murine typhus. Both had high fevers and some problems with their livers, she said.
Last year, 18 people required hospitalization, including one who suffered encephalitis and kidney failure.
