Dr Leslie Ramsammy, former Health Minister, and current advisor to the Minister of Health, has stated that the ministry is aware of a spike in dengue cases and efforts are being made to curb the infections as quickly as possible.
He advised, “Firstly we needed public awareness, keeping your surroundings clean since mosquitoes breed in open water and ensuring that all open water source is covered will help”
In an interview with Stabroek News yesterday, Ramsammy said that the government as an authority neeeds to also do certain things, “The minstry needs to be a little bit more aggressive in bringing public awareness and sending out more advisories”, he said.
When asked what the government plans to do to curb the spike, he responded, “from the government’s side we are doing things like vector control, Georgetown was completely fogged.”
He added that to double up on their efforts “we will give the chemicals to the different municipalities to do the fogging exercises.”
The former minister advised persons who feel unwell to assume that they may have been infected and to get tested as soon as possible. “Most people would just take Tylenol and leave it at that, but rapid-testing kits are available – go get tested.”
The rapid testing will also be used by the minstry to ascertain which areas have the most dengue cases. There are four types of dengue and Guyana is mostly affected by Types 1 and 2.
Stabroek News also spoke to a few persons who have been infected with dengue from different areas in Region 3, namely, Tuschen, Greenwich Park, and Parika, who all reported similar symptoms such as joint pain, fever, headaches and some even experiencing splitting of the skin on their lips.
They all were administered rapid testing kits and CDC tests which showed that they were infected.
What is Dengue?
Dengue is a viral infection caused by the dengue virus which is transmitted to humans through a bite from an infected mosquito. Most commonly the Aedes aegypti mosquito. It is mostly found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world and is a significant public health concern.
Check with your local health care provider for further information if you fear you may be infected.
