The government’s prudent management of dengue fever has led to a major decrease in the number of cases, bringing it effectively under control with a nationwide fogging exercise ongoing.
This was revealed by Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony on Saturday last during a medical outreach to the community of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara.
Dr Anthony stated that while there are several existing dengue cases, the viral infection is not on the rise.
“About a month ago we had about 400 cases in a given week, but we have seen that drop off significantly. Now, we are down to about 200 cases per week. We are seeing a decline and that’s because we have been doing a lot of work in terms of fogging. Every night once the weather permits we have been fogging,” the health minister disclosed.
He said in recent weeks approximately 8,000 tests were done with 2,000 persons testing positive, however not all are current infections.
The health minister is urging persons to visit their local health facilities once they suspect they have been infected with the dengue virus.
“What we are seeing is people, especially children are staying at home, and when they come to the hospital that child is severely sick. So, it’s more complicated when they come in at that point in time.
“For the whole year, we have had about 239 persons in hospitals across the country. Right now, we probably have less than 10 patients in hospital, and of the patients that were hospitalised, over the year we have had 11 deaths, and six of them were children,” Dr Anthony revealed.
Minister Anthony explained that the use of certain medications like Ibuprofen can cause bleeding, therefore a doctor must medicate infected persons.
Dengue symptoms include muscle aches, pain at the back of the eyes, redness of the skin, and hemorrhaging in severe cases.