Two cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in the capital and The Ministry, as it reviews all of the flu-like cases reported within the last six weeks, is not ruling out the possibility that there may be more cases.
Many of the persons with dengue symptoms, have heeded recommendations and visited their doctors to get an accurate diagnoses of their condition. Their blood samples have been sent to the Caribbean Regional Epidemiological Center (CAREC) in Trinidad for testing, a process that may take another week before it is complete.
Dengue Fever is a viral illness caused by the “aedes agypti mosquito,” which bites mostly around dawn and dusk. Symptoms include fever, intense headache, eye pain, rash, joint pain, muscle weakness and sometimes bleeding disorders.
During The Ministry’s press conference Wednesday, Director of Public Health Dr. Baldwin Carey said out of the two cases reported on the island, one is from a resident in the Fox Hill area and the other, in the West Bay Street area, about a mile west of town.
One of the two persons infected fell seriously ill and was diagnosed with the most dangerous form of dengue known as “hemorrhagic dengue fever.” This person had to be taken to hospital in the United States for treatment. The less dangerous form of the illness is simply referred to as “dengue fever” and Dr. Carey said that 99 per cent of all cases of dengue are “dengue fever” and not “hemorrhagic dengue fever.”
“And in hospital we’ve had several dozen cases of suspected dengue fever. We expect that several of them, but not many of them, will be confirmed as dengue fever, which really means that the infection is over the island and we should not try to say it’s in one end or the other. It’s over the island,” he said.
He added that when an area has been identified as an infection zone, the Department immediately administers its vector control program within a mile radius from the site with an Ultra Low Volume (ULV) treatment. He said, as a precautionary measure, the treatment has already progressed into other areas of the island, miles away from the previously identified areas, and will eventually encompass the entire Island.
“What we are trying to do is where we get probable or suspected cases, to deal with those areas first. We are going where we have some reports, like The Grove area, some in Gardens Hills and Robinson Road, we’ve sprayed all of those already,” he said.
The Ministry has also configured its vector control program to ensure that hospitals, schools, as well as air and seaports are inspected and receive ULV treatment around their perimeters.
And since there is a direct relationship between environmental cleanliness and mosquito breeding, the Department is encouraging residents nationwide to become actively involved in the process of mosquito control as the insects breed in man-made containers like drum buckets, paint cans, animal watering pans, tubes and tyres.
Discarded appliances and derelict vehicles, which are still numerous on many properties in Providence, are also productive breeding grounds for the dengue fever mosquito.
By Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
