Health authorities in Jamaica over the weekend issued warnings about a dengue fever outbreak with more than 500 suspected or confirmed cases so far.
“The dominant strain is Dengue Type 2, which last predominated in 2010,” the Jamaica Ministry of Health and Wellness said in a statement Saturday via the government-backed Jamaica Information Service, which added that there are “no dengue-related deaths classified at this time.” However, it stressed that six deaths are under investigation.
As of Sept. 22, there were 565 confirmed, suspected, and presumed cases of dengue, a virus that is spread via certain species of mosquitoes. Some 78 cases have been confirmed so far in Kingston, the capital of the country, as well as St. Thomas and St. Catherine, according to the bulletin.
“Meanwhile, approximately 500 temporary vector control workers have been engaged and deployed across the island to high-risk communities along with 213 permanent workers,” the Ministry of Health and Wellness also said, according to the statement.
It declared a dengue fever outbreak for all of Jamaica on Saturday. “This means, the country has seen an increase in the number of cases compared to what is normally seen during these months of the year,” the ministry said.
The ministry called on people not to use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and diclofenac to treat suspected dengue symptoms. It said that such medications can make the symptoms worse. However, health officials said that acetaminophen or paracetamol—or Tylenol—can alleviate some of the symptoms.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito “breeds in any containerized environment” that can hold water, including buckets, tires, animal feeding containers, pots, and barrels, according to the Ministry of Health.
“Persons are urged to play their part in ensuring that the cases are minimized by monitoring water storage containers for mosquito breeding, keeping surroundings free of debris, destroying or treating potential mosquito breeding sites, wearing protective clothing, using mosquito repellent and, as much as possible, staying indoors at dusk with windows and doors closed,” the statement said.
Speaking to local media outlets, the public health officer with the St. Catherine Health Department said that officials are attempting to eliminate breeding sites of the mosquito.
“Find out the places where mosquitoes breed and prevent water from gathering in those areas. Use tiki tiki fish in stagnant water like pools and the fish will eat the mosquito larvae thus preventing the life cycle,” Judith Brown told local media.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says dengue viruses can be spread to people via the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito, which tends to populate tropical and sub-tropical areas.
Some one in four people who get infected with dengue will develop symptoms such as nausea, rash, aches and pains, and vomiting, the CDC says. It takes about a week to recover.
Some one in 20 people, however, will develop severe symptoms, which can result in bleeding, shock, and death, says the CDC. Severe dengue “can be life-threatening within a few hours and often requires care at a hospital,” the agency says.
“If you have had dengue in the past, you are more likely to develop severe dengue,” the CDC adds. “Infants and pregnant women are at higher risk for developing severe dengue.”
A Jamaican official, Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie, told local a news outlet that “on occasions the illness can progress to Severe Dengue, which can result in organ failure as well as bleeding, and severe fluid depletion that can lead to shock and death.”
“Persons experiencing fever, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, bleeding under the skin (petechial rash), feeling very weak, or getting confused, are to seek immediate medical attention,” she added.
Last month, officials in Florida warned that 10 locally acquired dengue fever cases had been reported in the state so far in 2023. In a bulletin, the Florida Health Department said that Broward County was placed under a mosquito-born illness alert until the end of this year after two cases were found in the county.
“Dengue is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and is not normally present in Florida. However, infected travelers can bring the virus back to Florida mosquitoes,” the Florida health agency said in August.
Dengue-carrying mosquitoes have been known to have an estimated potential range including portions of the U.S. East Coast, according to the CDC. The World Health Organization warned in July that cases of dengue could reach record highs this year, saying that cases have skyrocketed eight-fold since 2000.
“Dengue affects approximately 129 countries,” a WHO official said over the summer. “We estimate that about 100 to 400 million cases are reported every year. This is basically an estimate and the American region alone has reported about 2.8 million cases and 101,280 deaths.” He noted that there was concern about the southern spread of dengue to Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru.
From The Epoch Times
