THE country continues to grapple with a spike in dengue fever cases and on August 9, the Health Ministry confirmed two more deaths, bringing the figure to eight.

The ministry’s latest update said there were 712 laboratory-confirmed cases, an increase of 46 compared to the previous day’s update of 666.

Yet again, the ministry reminded the public that the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito may spread dengue.

To combat this this disease, the ministry and the 14 municipal corporations have been urging people to do their part to stop the breeding cycle of mosquitoes.

These include cutting down and removing all bush or undergrowth that can harbour mosquitoes as well as disposing of all unwanted articles, derelict vehicles or appliances in the yard or environs.

On August 7, the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government announced its campaign to clean up vacant lots across the country to help stop the spread of the dengue virus.

The ongoing Cut and Clear initiative will see CEPEP workers carrying out clean-up exercises at two regional corporations weekly.

The programme started with the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) and the San Fernando City Corporation from August 5 to 9.

The next targeted corporations are the Diego Martin and Chaguanas Borough Corporations from August 12 to 16.

On August 9, PDRC chairman Gowtam Maharaj told Newsday that the corporation was doing its best to prevent the spread of the virus.

He said the corporation submitted a list of hundreds of lots to cut and clean. He did not yet have a figure to confirm how many were done, but he presumed that all were not done.

The corporation continues its dyna fogging schedule; workers have sprayed 12,000 households so far.

Maharaj added, “We do not have one hymnbook, per se, that we are reading from in this dengue management, which is supposed to come from the Health Ministry. We do not have a handbook from the ministry saying the chemical treatment we are using should not be used or should be upgraded.”

The chairman charged that mosquito control has to be in cycles, and dynafogging is an adult knock-down mechanism. This means that while the adult mosquitos are killed, the eggs remain, allowing hatching to still take place.

He believes the dengue figures are higher than what the ministry has been reporting.

Maharaj added, “If you have the right data, you will be able to have the right treatment plan. We have not been furnished with a treatment plan, an integrated insect vector management plan, as yet.”

“We did a survey in a particular community, and the numbers we got are in conflict with what is being shared. In what is being recorded as official, figures from private practitioners are not factored in.”

The corporation also continues with its clean-up operations.

“The ministry is saying we have to clean up and that definitely should be done. Because of the severity of the situation, the central government should put more resources into this particular region and work with the corporation in a real way