The Joint Parliamentary Opposition – APNU+AFC is sounding the alarm that Guyana is headed towards a major health crisis as the rate of dengue infections continues to climb.
In a statement on Thurs-day, A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) stated that 3,453 persons in Guyana have so far contracted the vector-borne illness of which 2,169 or 63% are active. Those stats vary with the Ministry of Health’s data published by the Stabroek News in yesterday’s edition. The Opposition’s release noted that two weeks ago, Region Six recorded in excess of 107 cases of dengue with 24 cases in twenty-four hours according to that region’s Regional Democratic Council (RDC). The release posited that with the rise of cases of dengue at a steady pace, Guyana seems to be heading towards a public health crisis.
The opposition’s statement cited a Ministry of Health (MoH) press release on Thursday that 8,000 tests have so far been conducted for dengue, with 22 percent (1,760) being positive. The Stabroek News’ article, again citing MoH, attributed eleven deaths this year to dengue but the Opposition’s statement alludes only to the recent deaths of two children, ages 9 and 11, both of whom were under the care of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for dengue. Given what the opposition termed as ‘national health care inefficiencies’ in the health system, the APNU+AFC insists that MoH consider the 22 percent infection rate as being too high.
The Opposition’s release described as ‘very unfortunate’ a statement attributed to the Advisor to the Minister of Health who it claimed said that, ‘one or two cases a day is not a phenomenal number’. According to the APNU+AFC, the advisor failed to recognize that 90 to 95 percent of persons who may have the symptoms (associated with dengue) do not feel the need to seek medical care. It is the 5 – 10 percent of persons who visit the hospital whose conditions will progress to severe dengue manifested by haemorrhage and shock or severe organ involvement.
This situation, the statement said, demands that “Government accord the statistics the urgency required to avert an impending public health crisis. Circumventing, denial, or diminishing the dangers are risky responses and must be avoided,” the opposition parties warned. The opposition is asking that sensible projections be made considering that the incubation period for dengue is usually 4-10 days (3-14 days) while the symptoms are seen for 2-7 days. The opposition parties urged that the Ministry of Health admit that “there is a public health crisis on our hands and that this situation be treated with urgent importance. This matter is of public health significance and must be given public health priority”.
APNU+AFC provided the following public health guidelines for the benefit of the national interest:
Focus on Treatment – Symptomatic and Supportive (the main therapeutic approach) fluids, rest, paracetamol (not aspirin or ibuprofen).
Early detection – by primary care physician and attention should be paid to care management practices – better surveillance – in Guyana we should be able to track this type of mosquito for example when it is sporadic and when is the prevalent period?
Consider environmental hygiene – elimination of the breeding sites (pesticide application) (adult mosquito –adulticides and bacterial larvicide- to kill the larvae) – There must be an integrated mosquito control – we must be able to find places where the mosquito lays its eggs and with the use of bio-control agents – those that do not cause environmental damage – like predatory cyclops. Fogging is also a possibility.
Education – community-based education is critical since there is need for an increased awareness of the communities and a strategic approach.
The Opposition, in its statement, called for responsible behaviours by government and citizens to ensure clean and clear environments and rapid virus detection providing early prediction of any possible epidemic. “We must… be cognizant… that frequent international travel and global warming could contribute to increased frequency of the dengue virus,” the statement said.
