The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has warned the Caribbean to be prepared for the “full impact” of the chikungunya virus as the number of countries reporting cases of the viral disease continues to rise.
To date, 9,139 confirmed cases have been recorded, although there are 643,211 suspected cases. So far, 37 deaths have been recorded.
Executive Director of CARPHA Dr. James Hospedales told the Caribbean Media Corpora-tion (CMC) that almost all Caricom countries have reported cases of the virus.
“The full bloom of chikungunya virus is yet to come,” he said. “…there is no resistance to this virus and we have an abundance of the vector and we have a lot of movement. In six months it has moved to all the islands and we can expect further increases in levels of cases based on what has happened elsewhere in the world, where in some countries you find a 30 per cent attack rate of the entire population within a year or so,” he was quoted as saying.
CARPHA is looking to have an experts’ consultation next month to examine ways to better inform and protect people.
Hospedales said that while Caribbean governments were making noble efforts to combat the virus, what they have been doing has not been sufficient. “What we have been doing has not been sufficient and the increase of dengue that we have seen in the last years is a marker that what we are doing is not working as well as it ought to work,” he said.
“That’s partly why we are having this experts meeting next month to look at what’s new in terms of the science and how can we better educate people and how can we deal with the mosquitoes that are so prevalent,” he told CMC.
Hospedales added that with a population of 17 million people, the region is still in the early stages of the virus.
He said it was very important for somebody who thinks they have chikungunya to avoid being bitten so as to avoid spreading it to their families and neighbours and also to reduce the breeding of the vector around the house. He said those persons should stay under a mosquito net for the few days they are sick and use insect repellent.
Chikungunya is a virus carried by the aedes aegypti mosquito and causes severe joint pains and fever, much like dengue fever. Symptoms include a sudden high fever, acute pain in the joints, muscle pain, headaches, nausea, and rashes. The joint pain is more common with chikungunya than with dengue. The symptoms surface between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito and last for three to 10 days. However, the joint pains last a little longer.
Fogging
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health Vector Control Services Unit commenced fogging exercises across Georgetown on Wednesday but residents in Essequibo are complaining that the ministry has done nothing to stop the spread in their county.
Stabroek News received complaints that ministry has not yet started any fogging exercises in Essequibo even though there were persons living there who had contracted the disease.
A pharmacist, who had contracted the disease, yesterday said he was sickened that the health authorities had not carried out any fogging in Suddie, Essequibo. He said he heard the ministry was fogging Georgetown but there were no announcements of the ministry taking precautionary measure in Essequibo.
He accused the ministry of being reckless by not fogging in certain far-flung areas although it is supposed to reduce the spread of the virus. “Why not deal with it before it gets out of control. It might look like Essequibo doesn’t have a big problem but it’s a problem nonetheless,” he said.
Since the viral disease surfaced 31 weeks ago, CARPHA has recorded 76 cases of Chikungunya in Guyana. Neighbouring countries Venezuela and Suriname have recorded 195 and 41 cases so far, respectively, while French Guiana has recorded 2,206 cases.
CARPHA, in an advisory, said prevention and control of outbreaks of chikungunya depend on the application of integrated vector management strategies and personal protection to reduce mosquito densities and prevent mosquitoes from biting persons who are infected. It said the control measures are the same as for dengue, which is spread by the same vector.
It said vector populations and the risk for circulation of chikungunya virus should be monitored, while entomological surveillance activities should be conducted to determine the most prominent types of Aedes aegypti/Aedes albopictus – producing containers and to map high risk areas based on entomological indices.
It stated further that upon suspicion of a chikungunya case, vector control activities in and around the residence of the case should be intensified to reduce the mosquito infestation levels.
Persons are asked to use insect repellents and wear long sleeved shirts and long pants. They are also advised to sleep under mosquito nets and keep their surroundings clean so as to prevent the vector from breeding.
