Two dengue deaths

Health Minister Jerry Narace, left, speaks to Dr. Clive Tilluckdharry, head of the Insect Vector Control Division, during the Inter-Sectoral Forum on Dengue at Crowne Plaza hotel. At centre is Dr. Carol Boyd Scobie, PAHO country representative

The Ministry of Health's Chief Medical Officer, Dr Anton Cumberbatch, Tues-day confirmed that the ministry was aware of two dengue-related deaths, despite claims from Health Minister Jerry Narace earlier in August that there were none.

Speaking at an Inter-Sectoral Forum on Dengue at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Port of Spain, Cumberbatch said the two people died between the end of June and the middle of July.

Stating that dengue had four types, 1, 2, 3 and 4, with the last two types being more severe, Cumberbatch said the country presently had type 3 circulating. He added that over the last 20 years, the nation has been visited by types 1, 2, 3 and 4, either singly or by more than one type at the same time.

In a release Tuesday evening, which outlined the "Dengue Trend Analysis," the ministry stated that as of Tuesday, there had been a total of 968 reported cases of dengue, but only 120 cases had been confirmed.

Cumberbatch added that the Caribbean sub-regions had reported 76,222 cases of dengue, including 1,217 cases of dengue haemorrhagic fever between 2001 and 2005.

Indicating that the last outbreak in Trinidad and Tobago was in 2002 with 6,308 "reported" cases, he said current weather patterns could lead to tremendous increases in the mosquito population, making it "a very challenging year for Trinidad and Tobago with respect to dengue".

Citing that the ministry needed the public's co-operation to control the number of dengue cases to ensure that it does not reach epidemic levels, Cumberbatch said source reduction was the only method proven to eliminate the aedes aegypti mosquito.

"If we can, as a national community, eliminate all the possible breeding sites, the cyclical pattern of dengue infection will be eliminated," he said.

Narace, who was also at the conference, added that the country was experiencing an increased cycle due to climate change, but said they had been working on prevention since December 2007.

He said the aedes aegypti mosquito was now a "national menace" and a "personal enemy", so people needed to play their part to rid society of the (insect) vector and not rely solely on the Government.

Agreeing with Narace was Dr Carol Boyd-Scobie, country representative at the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), who said without vector control to protect the population from the disease, dengue could cause suffering and hardship to those who were infected.

"The dengue problem is related to the residential areas, therefore behavioural patterns of people and attitudes need to be changed," she said. (Trinidad Express)