Following a notable increase in dengue fever cases in late August, Dr. Shalandin Ahmeed of the Health Information Unit underlines a sharp decrease of over 30 percent.
The number of dengue cases reached a record high of 117 during the week of August 22-28. As of last week this number stood at 76.
According to Dr. Ahmeed, the Environmental Health Department has launched an “all out war” against the epidemic and has beefed up its workforce to effectively handle the cases. He said these employees are not only just addressing individual cases as they are reported per household but rather are extending their canvas to the immediate surroundings.
“I know they have increased the workforce to mitigate this outbreak,” Dr. Ahmeed said.
As of last week Saturday there has been 447 cases of dengue cases reported and addressed by the health department. All patients were admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation and released within 2-3 days depending on the individual’s response to the medication.
The Health Information Unit has reiterated its call to all stakeholders to revise their preventative measures and remain cognizant of the dangers of contracting the disease.
@Bette Davidson: u are right on all three counts
@only: u can get them from environmental health department
Get some mosquito fish, Gambusia, that eat the larvae. The govt. needs to do this.
One of the problems I have with many of the health problems we have in Dominica is that rather than being proactive we tend to be reactive. Here is one example especially in light of the Dengue epidemic: there seems to be concern about eradication of Aedes Aegypti mosquito only when we have an out brealk of Dengue Fever. You only see fogging operations when we have Dengue but we have the mosquitoes all year round. During the times that nothing is being done the mosquitoes are multiplying and the increase in numbers of mosquitoes increase the chances that people will be bitten by them. If we would plan to exercise more vigilance and plan more intensive anti mosquito control activities all year round then the mosquito population would be so reduced that the incidence of dengue would be reduced as well.
What I would like to see happen is for the Environmental Health Department to begin enforcing the Mosquito Control Regulations and begin to prosecute people for breeding mosquitoes. The general public also need to adapt their lifestyle behaviours and habits. We have developed Americanized behaviours of not wanting to eat any thing if it is not in a can or a bottle. and once we use a product our next instinct is to throw away the container. We need to adopt the three R’s- reduce, reuse, recycle so that there are fewer sources of breeding for mosquitoes. Sadly enough there are still many Dominicans that do not use the Solid waste collection system and dump garbage over cliffs, in ravines, drains and gutters and into vacant lots.
There is no cure for Dengue so we can only prevent it. And doing so means, eliminating the sources of breeding of the mosquito, destroying the mosquito through biological means(natural enemies), chemical control(using insecticides and this should be only last resort) using repellants and using proper protective clothing and the use of mosquito nets.
In light of the PM’s plan not to provide steel, cement and tarish this community day of service, I think it is a wonderful opportunity for all Dominicans to place their energies into not only cleaning up the island and get rid of all the garbage /refuse that provide breeding for those mosquitoes that are responsible for Dengue but to bring back a semblance of what we have always prided opurselves as being called- The Nature Island.
@Bette Davidson: Bette You are right on track but just a little addition. Once an outbreak or epidemic has been established, it becomes unnecesary to test everyone. Instead once a patient manifests the symptoms that are typical of the disease, then that patient is considered a case even in the absence of blood tests.
There are a lot more cases than are being reported. I had it the first 2 weeks of August.
Dengue is made up of several different viruses and once you have had one type, you are suppose to be immune to getting that type again. Maybe and maybe not.
To get well faster, get the virus flushed out of the body. It will cut your recovery time in half.
There are some inaccuracies in this story, either on the part of DNO or Dr. Ahmed.
1) All 447 cases found have NOT been admitted to hospital, neither could they have been because there is no space.
2) There is no medication to treat Dengue, only over-the-counter, non-prescription preparations to relieve symptoms; there is no cure for Dengue.
3) there are probably 3 or 4 times that number of people who have been infected in the country, because after a while, they stopped accepting blood specimens for testing unless you met certain very specific criteria.
Simply put, we have been told nothing near what the real picture is or is likely to be at the end of the day.