Outbreak of dengue in Port Douglas and Cairns adding 4 new cases making a count of 81, blood donations are put on hold. Students who were involved in the blood donation challenge will have to wait till April to complete it.

Sandy Holmes, community relations officer for Blood Service, said that regardless of the halt, there is a regular requirement of 130 plasma donations every week which helps the trauma or transplant patients. And with the coming of dengue fever, focus can be diverted to only plasma donations that can only be made by males over the age of 18 years and females over the age of 20 years.

To overcome the dengue menace, The Dengue Action Response Team (DART) is visiting the high risk areas where the dengue mosquitoes are expected to breed at most, to spray the medicine. Dr Steven Donohue, Medical Director of Public Health, said that the residents who have symptoms like sudden fever with severe headaches, muscle and joint pains, or vomiting and diarrhea should immediately visit a GP.

The annual blood challenge had called 28,500 youth donors across Queensland to generate a drive of donors in the new generation and many student volunteers were helping in the same, which seeks a halt till the month of April.