(Trinidad Express) – The Health Ministry on Thursday released figures giving the number of suspected dengue fever cases for 2009, but made no mention of the two known cases where the virus killed citizens.
The statistics also do not give the number of people who were confirmed as having the disease.
The ministry’s figures are that as of June 20, there have been 880 “reported suspected cases of dengue”.
The information came two weeks after former Member of Parliament for Barataria, Dr Fuad Khan, claimed, at a citizens’ rally against crime and social injustice, that the State was covering up severity of the dengue problem and doctors had been mandated not to use the word dengue.
The Express has reported on the deaths of two people this year whose death certificates gave the cause of death as dengue haemorrhagic fever – Barrackpore taxi-driver, Persad Backarally, who died in March and 12-year-old Sydney Boodhan of Princes Town in June.
Ministry statistics also show that for the first 24 weeks of the year, suspected cases have been on the decline.
And while the peak was in week five – February 7- with 98 suspected cases reported, only twelve cases were reported in week 24 -June 24.
According to the ministry, there has been a steady pattern of decline in the number of “suspected cases” of dengue since the week of June 24.
But while there may be fewer dengue cases so far for this year, there could be a spike, according to president of the Public Health Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Mohan Bholasingh.
Bholasingh said, “We really have not seen as many cases in the last few months.
The numbers are actually lower than what we saw last year, but with the upcoming rainy season we are expecting to see an increase in the numbers.”
Last year, the Health Ministry reported 3,832 dengue cases and six deaths.
