St. Mary health officials keeping close watch on dengue cases

 

Health officials in St. Mary are keeping a close watch on the dengue situation in the parish.

 

Dr. Tamara Henry, Medical Officer of Health for the parish, says four cases have been detected so far, affecting two males and two females. 

 

Twenty-five per cent of the cases were among children zero to four years old, while 50 per cent of those affected were among the general working population. 

 

Dr. Henry noted the re-emergence of dengue type 2, which she said had not affected Jamaica for the last decade. 

 

"Remember there are four strains of dengue - 1, 2, 3, 4 - and once you have been infected with one strain, you are never going to be reinfected again, but every subsequent infection of a new strain causes the symptoms to be worse. In our last outbreak, we saw predominantly type 1 and 3. Now what we are seeing coming back into the country is type 2."

 

The St. Mary Health Department has increased its staff complement to tackle the spread of vector borne diseases in the parish.

 

This was disclosed by Chief Public Health Inspector Rupert Stephens, who said the inspectors have been tasked with identifying and destroying mosquito breeding sites and to monitor rodent infestation. 

 

"The Health Department has now permanently employed an additional 16 insect inspectors, with three more applications to be processed in this month. This will bring the total number of insect inspectors, as they are now called, to 24, which includes five insect inspectors that we had permanently."

 

He said the insect inspectors have been deployed across the parish to search and destroy mosquito breeding sites in residential and other premises.     

 

Mr. Stephens and Dr. Henry were addressing the monthly meeting of the St. Mary Municipal Corporation.