Newmarket man tests positive for EEE
The wife of a Newmarket man who has been diagnosed with Eastern equine encephalitis said Friday that it took a month to get test results that confirmed the illness.
New Hampshire has now had four confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness this year.
Rachael Dube said her husband, Scott Dube, first started exhibiting signs of EEE in mid-August. It took 10 days for him to get tested, but it wasn’t until Monday that he got the diagnosis.
Scott Dube has a job that keeps him outside all day in South Hampton, which is right next to Kensington, where another case of EEE was reported this year.
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It had been a decade since doctors in New Hampshire last diagnosed a human case of EEE before a case in August broke that trend.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms of EEE include headaches, fatigue and nausea. In some cases, it can be fatal. There is no treatment for EEE other than supportive care.
Rachael Dube said she had been researching EEE and thought her husband’s symptoms were similar. She said the doctors at Portsmouth Regional Hospital told her it looked like meningitis, which can be contagious. She said she wishes doctors had tested him for EEE sooner.
“I had to bring my 3-year-old to get a really painful shot to kind of prevent him from getting sick,” she said. “So, it was really stressful and would have alleviated a lot of stress if they had just tested for it.”
Officials with Portsmouth Regional Hospital said they don’t regularly check for EEE because it’s so rare.
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