-residents advised to take the necessary precautions

PLANS by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to deal with a possible dengue outbreak in Georgetown have been stalled due to a shortage of chemicals and other items needed to pull off a massive campaign to reduce the likelihood of the occurrence.

The M&CC, at January’s press conference, declared that in view of the possible outbreak, the body wanted to be proactive, rather than reactive. More than a month later, Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Suzette Reynolds, told the Guyana Chronicle that the municipality is still in the process of procuring spray cans and other items.

She said that the Ministry of Health is also in the same position where items have been ordered and must be shipped into the country. “So even if we want to go ahead, the stuff is not available in the country. At this juncture, even if we want to collaborate with the ministry, they don’t have the stuff as yet”, Reynolds informed. “Of course I am very concerned,” she added, “But I can’t beat the system. If the suppliers or the distributers of the chemicals need to bring it into the country, then that’s all we can do. There’s no other way of possibly getting it.”

According to Dr. Reynolds, the Vector Control Department is continuing with routine works. “But the big campaign that we wanted to pull off, we haven’t been able to,” she said, as she does not know when the items are expected to arrive in the country. She explained that the routine work by the Vector Control Department would not be enough to deal with this issue. The plan was that over the next two months or so, it would have tried to incorporate other departments to get the work done.

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites. Some of the symptoms include severe headaches, a high fever, pain in the muscles, bones and joints; pain behind the eyes and digestive issues like vomiting and diarrhea. It can also be accompanied by a rash, but the absence of rash does not mean there is no dengue. There may also be bleeding from the mucus membranes. There can even be hemorrhagic shock, which can result in death.

According to Dr. Reynolds, the disease can result in a very vicious cycle, “An infected mosquito bites someone and when this person becomes infected; if they are not isolated under nettings and so forth, a healthy mosquito can now bite that sick person, get the dengue virus and then transmit it to other persons. The mosquitoes can reproduce in clean or dirty water.

Symptoms appear at between four to seven days after the infected mosquito would have bitten the person and after that incubation period, the symptoms start with very high fever, pain when moving the eyes, pain in the main joints, bones and muscles; rashes throughout the body, mild bleeding from the nose or gum, and a tendency to bruise easily. Persons with chronic diseases are more at risk such as those with diabetes, renal problems, asthma, and liver diseases. Pregnant women or recent post natal women, infants, and adults over 60 years of age, are also more prone to the virus.

“Someone who has had it before may not get it again. If a patient has had dengue type one in the past, and a mosquito bites them that carry the same type one, they will not be infected. But if a mosquito that carries types two, three or four bites them, they will be infected and very much likely will suffer a worse form of manifestation of that illness”, Dr. Reynolds warned.

The main prevention mechanism is isolation under netting for infected persons. “We should use screens on doors and windows, and if they don’t have such, keep them shut. Especially for children, insure that they wear long sleeve shirts, pants and footwear when outdoors especially at night. Use insect repellant. Limit your exposure especially at the time of dusk and dawn, because that’s when the mosquitoes are most active and do not give them a place to breed.”

Dr. Reynolds emphasised, “Preventing dengue starts with you. You can do simple things to avoid the transmission of dengue!”