Local dengue transmissions double as results come in

| 20/11/2012

Aedes_aegypti_feeding (234x300).jpg(CNS): Following the receipt of more than a dozen results this week the public health department has confirmed that 15 cases of dengue fever have been caught locally. Since the beginning of the year some 59 suspected cases of dengue have been reported, three in the last ten days. Forty-nine results have been received and more than half of those have proved to be positive. The majority of positive cases have now turned out to have been contracted in the Cayman Islands from dengue infected mosquitoes and mostly in West Bay.

Only ten of the 26 positive cases have a confirmed travel history to countries where the fever is endemic among the aedes aegypti, and officials say that they have been unable to reach one patient to clarify where that person may have contracted the illness.

Among the ten confirmed cases with a travel history that were likely to have contracted dengue overseas five are residents of West Bay, 3 from George Town, and 2 from Bodden Town. While 13 of those who contracted the fever in Grand Cayman came from West Bay with just one from George Town and Bodden Town. The patient with unknown travel, officials said, is also from West Bay.

Fifteen people have been admitted to hospital with suspected dengue cases throughout this year with nine being confirmed as the mosquito borne disease, four cases are still pending results but two were found to be negative.
Officials issued reminders to residents about taking precautions regarding mosquitoes during the early evening around sunset, by covering up and using repellent. The public is also asked to control the potential breeding grounds by ensuring no standing water can collect in vessels in yards, gardens and otheroutside spaces.

The MRCU is continuing is fogging operations in an effort to keep he levels of the offending mosquito as low as possible.

See government Dengue Fever Fact Sheet below

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  1. World Traveller says:

    Got to say I'm not over impressed by the HSA 'fact sheet'.

    Try the WHO version – http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/

    The minor strains of dengue are unpleasant but no more serious than a bad dose of flu (you can't even pass it on easily like you can with flu) and the HSA seem to be ramping this up without releasing all the facts. I have had one the minor strains of dengue while travelling in the Pacific and wouldn't even bother to go to a doctor with the symptoms I experienced.

    If you have suspected dengue do you really need to pay to see a doctor and get a blood test? I don't see any reason why because by the time the results come back if you have the haemorrhagic strain it will not only be obvious but you will be dead or dying. If you had one of the minor strains you will protected from it for life anyway.

    This is getting like the SARS and bird flu hysteria all over again and it matches all the nonsense that comes out every year about norovirus.  

    HSA seem to latch onto anything like this and large it up. It's not a smart move because if you do this often enough when something really serious develops people are going to yawn and go, "So what?"

  2. Environ-mentallist says:

    One year after "sterile" hybrid mutant mosquitoes were released without letting the public know… The Cayman Islands has their first problems with dengue… WEIRD!

    • Anonymous says:

      You are assuming that this is Cayman's first episode. It isn't.

      • Skeptic says:

        Not weird,  rather alarmist mumbojumbo, and that is coming from someone who has had Dengue three times in Jamaica (many years ago) and has doubts that they will survive another round.

        • SSM345 says:

          My other half is still waiting on her blood tests from the hospital that were taken over a month ago having contracted Dengue in Jamaica for the second time, just as well she is still walking around…….

          Perhaops the local hospitals will now stock the testing kits instead of having to send the bloodworks  abroad for results….

    • Anonymous says:

      How ignorant.  The spread of dengue throughout the region has been clear over recent years, and it is inevitable that Cayman will have an increasing issue with dengue as time moves forward.  If anything, the reserach condicted on Cayman might reduce our exposure, both in short term and the long term.

      • Anonymous says:

        She is not ignorant, you are IGNORANT. What you dont know is that they may not necessarily have being sterile mosquitos that were release here, they could have being infected mosguito. If they were sterile mosguitos they would not have any problems notifying the public. So you need to take a seat and think before you comment.

      • George W. Bush says:

        How Ignorant You,  03:51,

        The Company GSK that did the genetic experiment to sterilize the male mosquito was chided by the British Government for publishing material on the experiment which was for the most part unsubstantiated  and at worse misleading. It was so bad that they have put a hold on any more such experimentation. 

        So don't buy everything these companies try to sell us. they are all about "MONEY" and they could care less about who is hurt by their "RUSHED" experiments. This experiment was done in this Island without any consultation with the people. This is typical of the way things are done here. This same experiment was banned in the Seychelles by their people.

        So as the old saying goes. "DON'T MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE" what she has done cannot be improved upon. So don't try to!

        "STAY SAFE" 

        • Anonymous says:

          But surely it is an efficient use of our territories.  While they are no longer the source of direct capital they can and should be availabe to facilitate other wealth generation prospects.

        • Anonymous says:

          Does the new human rights law allow us to sue the government for doing this against our wishes.

  3. Anonymous says:

     

    Use Essential Oils to Prevent Mosquito Bites-safe and more effective than chemicals. Kirk's has neem tree oil- good thing for a skin, and Mosquitos hate it. Google hoe to use it.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Just because someone travelled doesn't mean they didn't catch it here. What is the timing on the travel. There really needs to be an all-out attack on this. Tourists like it when they don't have to risk catching diseases.