With the country now facing an outbreak of dengue fever concern is being raised in the medical fraternity that the number of cases of the mosquito-borne disease might be under-reported.
A doctor in private practice has admitted that he has failed to report several suspected cases of dengue.
Former senior medical officer, Dr Winston Dawes, says he has not reported the cases because the process is too time-consuming.
“I have had quite a few and I must admit that I have not informed the authorities about it because it is sometimes cumbersome. A lot of us in private practice, we see them, we treat them , sometimes we might see them for blood tests, if they do come back (positive) , then we report it rather than reporting suspected cases. It is unfortunate and bad and I confess.”
Dawes has also urged the persons to protect themselves against the mosquito borne disease.
“The major thing is to take care of your environment, avoid having stagnant water. If you are going to have stagnant water, put some oil on it. Use mosquito nets, mesh for our windows and using DEET containing chemicals and wear lighter clothes. Senior citizens and very young babies and sometimes younger people have the very serious hemorrhagic dengue, so it is no respecter of age.”
Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a specific syndrome that tends to affect children under 10 years of age.
It causes abdominal pain, bleeding, and circulatory collapse.
Opposition warning
The opposition People’s National Party’s (PNP) spokesman on Health Dr. Dayton Campbell, says not enough is being said about the seriousness of the severe strain of dengue.
“Because we should tell the people the symptoms to look for and to tell them what to avoid. There are people out there who have been taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatories that they are not supposed to be taking. So these persons are pre-disposed to bleeding . This has been going on and if i’m aware of this, then the Minister of Health must be aware of it as well and I don’t think that enough is being done or said for the persons in this country to be made fully aware of the dangers of this illness,” said Campbell who was a guest on Beyond the Headlines on Friday.
His comments follow Thursday's confirmation by the Health Ministry that there is an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease.
The Ministry reported that last month there were 123 reported dengue cases.This exceeded the outbreak threshold of 96 cases.In addition, two deaths have been reported as dengue related.
Increase Vector control workers in Westmoreland
More than 100 suspected cases and five confirmed cases of dengue fever have been identified in several Westmoreland communities.
The communities are: Grange Hill, Little London, Negril, Savanna-La-Mar and Mearnsville.
Health Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, who toured sections of Westmoreland yesterday, said he will increase the number of vector control workers in the parish.
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