GuySuCo’s Port Mourant Training School has been temporarily closed after a dengue outbreak which has left at least two students hospitalized.
Chairman of Region Six, David Armogan yesterday said that so far there have been seven cases of the mosquito-borne dengue confirmed at the school. As such the school has been closed to be fumigated. According to Armogan, that process was to have commenced yesterday.
Stabroek News was told that so far there have been 374 cases of dengue for the month of May with the affected communities being Adelphi, East Canje Berbice; Sandvoort, West Canje Berbice; Goed Bananen Land, East Canje Berbice; Sisters Village, East Bank Berbice; Heathburn Village, East Bank Berbice; Sheet Anchor, East Canje Berbice; Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam; Sheet Anchor, East Canje Berbice and Smythfield, New Amsterdam.
However, there were no new cases reported over the last weekend.
As of April, the region had recorded 440 dengue cases for the year with a 15-year-old hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.
Armogan had said that there had been an increase in dengue cases within the region as he pointed out that there has been a mosquito infestation throughout East Berbice-Corentyne. “In every place basically, so what we are doing we are intensifying the fogging exercise we have started”, he said.
Armogan had also noted that at one time the region only had two machines, however, the Ministry of Health has assisted the region with four additional fogging machines “and so now we will have six in the system and so what we are doing now we are putting together, we only have four vehicles which we are using currently, we are looking for two additional vehicles to rent so that we can do more fogging in more areas.”
“We seem to have more problems than any other region when it comes to dengue cases, don’t know if mosquitoes like Region Six but it’s a problem and we are trying to deal with it.”
He added, “But there is no question about it, there has been an increase in dengue cases for the last couple of weeks and you’re seeing an increase in children because over the last month or so we have had quite a number of children coming in with dengue at the hospital some were admitted, some were treated and sent home.”
He encouraged parents and residents to get tested stressing that it is important “if you can pick it up in the early stages.”
