Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy says the health sector has not recorded any recent dengue deaths, but he noted yesterday that the sector will conduct investigations to ascertain whether any such death has gone unreported.
Prime News reported last evening that two dengue deaths have been recorded in the country, one as recent as yesterday but when questioned on the news reports the minister said he was not aware. “I am not aware of any dengue deaths today or recently, we have not had any recent dengue deaths”, he stated.
Ramsammy said there is much speculation in the air and he stressed that dengue is usually confirmed after a verification process. The death of a young woman yesterday in the city has to be investigated further before any conclusions are reached, he said last evening, adding that based on the information he has received “it does not appear to be dengue”.
The minister told Stabroek News that he has checked the mortality figures from the public hospital from last week and there were no reported dengue deaths. However, he said that if someone died of dengue at a private hospital this information is yet to reach the ministry. “We will have to check and see whether there were any dengue reported deaths in the private sector”, he noted.
Ramsammy said recently that Guyana faces a dengue outbreak threat, noting that for the year so far there have been 1000 cases of dengue fever compared to 760 for the same period last year. He said last night that there has been an increase, but insists it is not alarming.
