Chikungunya cases on the rise - 31 confirmed

Health Minister Dr. Fenton Ferguson reported on Wednesday that there are now 31 confirmed cases of  the Chikungunya virus in Jamaica.
 
Ferguson, who made the disclosure in a statement to Parliament, also said there has been a spike in suspected cases.    

“Up to the week ending the 13th of September 2014, there were 524 notifications  of which 251 were classified as suspected cases .As of September 16 , 31 cases were laboratory confirmed 26 were discarded due to negative lab results, 194 cases remain suspected."

He also confirmed that the number of affected parishes has increased: “We now have seven affected parishes as of Septer 16, the Caribban Public Health agency confirmed one case for St Mary and three from Portland. The other remain Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Ann and St. Catherine.”

The Minister also outlined some of  the steps taken since June and up to last Friday, to contain the spread of  the virus. He told the House of Representatives that more than 50 thousand premises have been inspected and in excess of 80 thousand containers inspected island-wide for mosquito breeding, while spraying activities were carried out in 977 communities.

Schools

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education disclosed that 697 students and 60 teachers were absent from 25 schools in St. Thomas on Wednesday, with many of them complaining of flu-like symptoms.

Despite these reports, Education Minister Ronald Thwaites has remained adamant that schools must remain open unless the Ministry of Health advises otherwise.

Yallahs Primary School has been one of the most affected of the St. Thomas based institutions, and although a team from the Ministry of Health did not detect any mosquito breeding sites during its inspection of  the property on Tuesday, it was fumigated.

According to a statement from the Health Ministry, the school remained opened on Wednesday, despite the absence of  several members of  staff, including the principal and vice-principals.

A senior member of  the academic staff  was placed in charge of  the school under the guidance of  the Ministry of  Education’s regional office.
 
The Ministry of  Health last week met with school officials in St. Mary, Portland and St Thomas to discuss the response to Chikungunya, Dengue Fever and other illnesses with flu-like symptoms.