– finds many cases, pleads for action
Dengue fever surveillance in several East Coast Demerara communities by a private group has found a number of confirmed and probable cases, and according to the team there appears to be no aggressive initiative in place to prevent the spread.
Members of the East Coast Clean-Up Committee said that dengue seems to have become endemic in Guyana and they are calling for spraying and fogging exercises to be done urgently, starting in the communities between Better Hope and Industry.
Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy has said that dengue fever cases recorded this year show an increase, but he insists that the numbers are “not alarmingly high”. He has also mentioned stepped up surveillance across the country, in addition to noting that there has been no recorded dengue death despite reports.
The committee met on Saturday last to discuss the initial results of a house-to-house study conducted in August and based on the data compiled a fairly high number of probable cases appears to be in the lower East Coast area including villages such as Ogle, Better Hope and Plaisance.
According to the group, dengue cases have been reported in households along the main roads but also along ‘back roads’ closer to the cane fields and burial grounds. In at least one household visited family members were also treated for leptospirosis, the group said.
Residents are particularly concerned that the Vector Control Department is not active in surveillance, spraying and fogging in the communities and in disseminating information on the presence of dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases, the ECD Committee said on Saturday. Concerns were also raised about the lack of visibility of public health officers. “No community level institution is confident or comfortable addressing dengue openly, or what should be done about it,” the group added.
Information of the death of a young woman in one of the villages and the serious illness of dengue fever of a four-year-old child are among what triggered the group’s interest in dengue fever, the committee said in a press statement this week.
Committee member, Rev Murtlene Dennis disclosed at the meeting that a letter was sent to the Chief Medical Officer and copied to the Chief Inspector of Vector Control Services, setting out the major concerns relating to mosquito infestation and the rise of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases on the East Coast.
She said also that they also expressed keen interest in learning about the pilot project in Region 5 on the method of growing the Bti bacteria, as a natural method of killing mosquito larvae.
Dennis said too that since June many religious and community leaders started to inform their congregations of the dangers of dengue, encouraging them to take proper preventative measures. She also explained that the committee is trying to develop more accurate knowledge of the number of confirmed and probable cases of dengue within some communities.
Regional Health Officer, Dr Karen Cummings, who was briefly present at the meeting, said she was impressed with the work of the committee and believed, to her knowledge, no other grouping was playing this role. Cummings also commented that many communities, unfortunately, had become complacent after the 2005 flood.
According to the committee, queries were raised by residents as to the availability of DEC salt (anti-filaria) in clinics and supermarkets, which the Ministry of Health and PAHO organised some five years ago. Further, the group said that Hepatitis A, linked with poor hygiene practices and food handling, also seemed to be on the increase.
The committee stated that information regarding the specific high-risk areas where both the confirmed and probable cases are located will be handed over to the Regional Health Officer for follow-up work.
The ECD Clean-up Committee is an informal grouping of religious and community leaders who came together during the disastrous 2005 flood.
