The state Department of Health has confirmed 10 cases of dengue fever on the Big Island.

“In the coming days I anticipate the case count will increase,” state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park said. “What’s happening now is we clearly have pockets of (infected) mosquitoes that have been transmitting dengue. Where on the Big Island is still a mystery, quite frankly.”

There have been no reports of dengue fever on Oahu or on the other neighbor islands at this time.

Park said four possible cases of the dengue virus reported last week have been confirmed. In addition, the Health Department has confirmed several more. “We now have 10 at this point,” she said.

With a few of the cases, individuals either went to work or went shopping during the early stages of their illness. The Health Department advises individuals who suspect having contracted dengue fever to see a doctor and to stay indoors while they recover.

The onset of the symptoms of confirmed cases ranged from mid-September to late October. “We need to be on heightened awareness on this, in general,” Park said.

Among Big Island areas where health officials found similarities in a few cases are Hookena and Honaunau in South Kona. Park advises residents and visitors to take precautions and use DEET insect repellent.

Staff from the Health Department’s Vector Control Branch have already started spraying around the homes of some affected residents as a precautionary measure against the virus, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. “For each new case they are sending crews out to assess the property around a 200-yard radius,” Park said.

The affected individuals have suffered from mild to moderate dengue fever, with symptoms including headache, rash, nausea, aches and pains in muscles and bones. The symptoms lasted for about a week.

Daily video bloggers Charles Trippy and Allie Wesenberg, featured in the “Internet Killed Television” Web series on YouTube, recently traveled to the Big Island. When they returned home to Florida, Wesenberg started to feel pains in her bones. “It was awful,” she said in a video blog.

She was hospitalized for her illness. “I seriously thought I was going to die.”

Trippy said in the video that they think Wesenberg had dengue fever and that they’ve been communicating with Hawaii Health Department officials.