Expressing concern about the growing numbers of chikungunya, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green yesterday called on all Guyanese to take responsibility and clean their drains.
She said everyone was depending on the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to clean the city but people needed to understand that it was not only a M&CC issue, but also an “every citizen” issue.
“…We have a responsibility and so do you. So we are asking residents throughout the country to take their responsibility seriously,” she said, adding that the M&CC had procured a fogging machine and chemical to fog from Agricola, East Bank Demerara to Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara. She said it was collaborating with the Ministry of Health Vector Control Services and fogging is expected to commence shortly.
She also stated that if citizens cleaned up their surroundings the city would not have the present drainage situation. “The lot drains are your responsibility,” she reiterated, noting that stagnant drains were breeding grounds for mosquito larvae.
Former Mayor Ranwell Jordon also stated that if the health of the citizens was the focus then the current garbage situation needed to be addressed and eradicated.
Environmental Com-munity Health Organisa-tion (ECHO) Executive Director Royston King recently made a call for action on the stagnant drains in the city, which he is blaming for outbreaks in depressed areas. He had stated that stagnant drains were increasing the risk of the virus spreading in these areas.
One of these communities is Albouystown, from where residents are flocking the East La Penitence Health Centre presenting with severe joint pains, fever, and rashes across their bodies.
A source at the health centre said they were seeing over 20 patients every day with symptoms of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. The source stated that the majority of these patients were coming from the Albouystown area.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud had said there were nearly 2,000 suspected cases of chikungunya in Guyana. He said the number might be higher since there were many unreported cases.
Chikungunya, a viral disease carried by the aedes aegypti mosquito, is marked by severe joint pains, muscle pains, sudden high fever, headaches and rashes. The disease is similar to dengue fever and usually surfaces between four to seven days after a bite from an infected mosquito. It lasts for three to 10 days.
