HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh says the majority of dengue cases are concentrated in the southern and central counties of Trinidad, specifically Counties Victoria, St Patrick, and Caroni. He said available resources are being concentrated in those areas.
Speaking at a media conference on July 19 at the Ministry’s Head Office, Queen’s Park East, Deyalsingh said as of July 19, there were 392 laboratory-confirmed cases and three deaths.
The Health Minister said Penal/Debe Regional Corporation principal medical and health officer Dr Oumatee Arjoon-Singh, Siparia Borough Corporation public health administrator Farzan Rasul, and Princes Town Regional Corporation principal medical and health officer Dr Olalekan Jumat agreed that source reduction at the home level, not spraying, was the way to go.
“This issue is being politicised. Please listen to these public officers. They are from the areas most affected and they are saying that source reduction is the best option.”
Epidemiology Division technical director Dr Avery Hinds said approximately half the confirmed cases were in young people between five-19, and the other half were in older people.
Insect Vector Control Division medical officer of health Dr Osafo Fraser said a meeting was convened with the regional corporations (RCs), the county medical officers of health (CMOH) and IVCD on Friday to continue co-ordinating the response to the outbreak.
“These three organisations form the pillars of the response to dengue and all vector-borne diseases. The CMOH and IVCD provide the RCs with information that can be used to target areas for action. We will give them areas where cases of dengue exist, where we’ve identified a large amount of breeding sources, so they can go in and do the heavy lifting required to deal with some of those areas.”
[caption id="attachment_1097294" align="alignnone" width="1024"] MY POINT IS: From left, medical officer of health of the Insect Vector Control Division (IVCD) Dr Osafo Fraser; Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram; and Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Faris Al-Rawi at a media conference about dengue at the Ministry of Health on Queen’s Park East, Port of Spain on July 19. - Photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption]
Deyalsingh outlined some areas which would be strengthened after the meeting. These included issues of poor sanitation and the use of surveillance through the CMOHs and sentinel physicians.
“The response of the CMOHs and the RCs would be to prioritise high-risk areas with large clusters. In those areas, once you confirm you have active cases, those cases will be immediately sprayed to break the chain of transmission, including the neighbours and possibly a half-mile radius don’t get bitten by the same mosquitoes.”
CMOH Caroni Dr Jeanine St Bernard said sentinel physicians report confirmed and suspected dengue cases to the health ministry. She asked that when cases are reported, specific addresses should be collected so public health inspectors could be sent to inspect the premises.
Deyalsi
