Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing my letter captioned “The Ministry must take the outbreak of dengue seriously” (08.04.09). I would like to congratulate Stabroek News for drawing attention to the current outbreak of this disease in Brazil, for analyzing the need for preventative measures to be taken by the local health authorities, and for supplying readers with information on the disease and how they can avoid it or treat it.
Please allow me, though, to correct several inaccuracies in the article “Dengue cases up…” in which I am extensively quoted and misquoted. I am reported as saying that a sick patient in my care was taken to “several doctors” who “had no idea what was wrong” or were “unable to figure out what was wrong.” I did not make these statements, and was dismayed to see this slant in the article because it quite wrongly attributes blame to the doctors, when the culprit was a faulty laboratory report which may have misled the doctors.
Secondly, I wish to erase any suggestion that we in my household are medical experts, we are not. We were indeed able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and arrive at a concrete diagnosis in hindsight. My point was that finding out only late in the day could have proved fatal – particularly if we had resorted to readily available drugs such as Ibuprofen or aspirin.
Our patient saw three doctors. We have no complaint whatsoever about how the first two managed the case. The third doctor we consulted (and this was when the bleeding had begun) should have heard warning bells when faced with a very sick patient giving a history of prolonged fever and a recent onset of bleeding – but again that laboratory report stated clearly (and falsely) that this was not a case of dengue.
Haemorrhagic dengue may be rare in Guyana, but it can be fatal. Every aspect of health care – vector control, public education, accurate lab testing, timely alerts to medical personnel – every aspect needs to be strengthened. Where there is one case there is the possibility of more since the disease is carried by mosquitoes – who bite all of us!.
Yours faithfully,
Joyce Jonas
