(Trinidad Express) “Zero tolerance on the dreaded aedes aegypti mosquito will get rid of CHIKV and dengue fever.” Dr Clive Tilluckdharry, principal medical officer of Environmental Health at the Ministry of Health (MoH), made the comment Saturday in the aftermath of 43 confirmed cases of Chikungunya virus throughout County St George.
“We have had over 2,000 cases of dengue for the year,” Tiluckdharry said.
Chikungunya, or CHIKV, is a viral disease which is characterised by severe pains in the joints. In the dialect of a tribe in East Africa, Chikungunya means “that which bends you up”.
In a telephone interview, Tiluckdharry said: “The message is both dengue and CHIKV is transmitted by the aedes aegypti. It is the same mosquito that transmits both viruses. There are four (1, 2, 3, 4) dengue fever fero types. Patients exposed to fero types are at greater risk of developing complications which can lead to bleeding and shock. Let us get rid of the dengue and the CHIKV.
“There must be zero tolerance against the aedes aegypti if we are going to get rid of both CHIKV and dengue fever. Let’s get rid of the aedes aegypti and we would get rid of two viruses. Once we get rid of the aedes aegypti, we get rid of both diseases,” he added.
He said citizens had a responsibility to keep their environment clean.
“The public has a responsibility. to protect our yards and environs and remove any possible container which can hold water and which will allow the mosquito to breed. Even if it is a plastic container or a child’s pool.”
