…current transmission levels same as last year’s
Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has said Guyana is seeing dengue transmission levels that are similar to those of 2009, but maintains that dengue remains a threat. “We have had 200 verified cases and suspicious cases are about 1,000, which is the same level as last year…we have transmission of dengue every day,” he said.
The Health Minister said everyone needs to do his part since the Ministry cannot do it alone.
To date the Ministry of Health has issued advisories and has upped it efforts to detect incidents of dengue fever.
“Any diagnosis of dengue has to be reported…there have been no formal reports of death…we are testing more than ever before,” Ramsammy said.
He explained that the private health care providers, as well as some public centres, use what is called the ‘rapid test’.But the Minister said this is not as effective as the ELISA test.
Ramsammy said only about 12,000 of these tests are currently in supply, and because of the high cost associated with its procurement, health workers have been given specific guidelines for recognizing candidates for the tests.
The tests are done at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory (NPHRL).
Steps to facilitate vector control have also been taken by the Health Ministry and Ramsammy stressed that this is the only way to control dengue.
One of the more successful initiatives, he said is a new programme which focuses on the elimination of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the vector of dengue fever.
The BTi (Bacillus thuringiensis) initiative is a biological method of control. The bacillus has a preference for the larvae of the mosquito. In Guyana’s case, BTi is expected to be used to treat the network of ponds and canals in the country, some of which are stagnant thus ideal for mosquitoes to breed.
“We have this programme running in Mahaicony and Bush Lot. The preliminary results are that the BTi will work,” Ramsammy said.
He added that after the relevant analysis is done, this initiative will be rolled out across the country.
Awareness
The Health Minister observed that coupled with the work of the Ministry, Guyanese must be aware of what they can do to play their part in reducing transmission of dengue.
This includes maintaining clean surroundings, turning pails and watering cans over and storing them under shelter, removing old tyres from the yard which may collect water and providing breeding space for the mosquitoes, and disposing of garbage in the appropriate manner.
Dengue fever is a disease that manifests itself as fever of sudden onset, associated with headache, muscle and joint pains, distinctive retro-orbital pain (a pain from behind the eyes), and rash. Some cases develop much milder symptoms which can be mis-diagnosed as influenza or other viral infection, when no rash or retro-orbital pain is present. The classic dengue fever lasts about two to seven days, with a smaller peak of fever at the trailing end of the disease.
Cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever also show higher fever, variable hemorrhagic phenomena including bleeding from the eyes, into the gut, and oozing blood from skin pores. When the dengue infection proceeds to dengue hemorrhagic fever symptoms, it causes vascular leak syndrome which includes fluid in the blood vessels leaking through the skin and into spaces around the lungs and belly. This fluid loss and severe bleeding can cause blood pressure to fall, then Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) sets in, which has a high mortality rate.
Dengue is also known as break-bone fever, since it can be extremely painful. It is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, predominantly in urban and semi-urban areas. Unlike malaria, dengue is just as prevalent in the urban districts of its range as in rural areas.
Dengue is transmitted to humans by the Aedes (Stegomyia) Aegypti or more rarely the Aedes albopictus mosquito, both of which feed exclusively during daylight hours.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says some 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world’s population, are now at risk from dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year.
The WHO reported that the disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-east Asia and the Western Pacific. South-east Asia and the Western Pacific are the most seriously affected.