Three more suspected dengue cases hospitalized

(CNS): The latest statistics from health officials regarding the number of dengue fever cases in Cayman reveals that so far this year 23 suspected cases have been reported to the Public Health Department. In the last week of January alone some 15 new cases were investigated, with none of the patients having a travel history to endemic countries. Three of them were admitted to hospital. Five of them were residents of George Town, three were from Bodden Town and seven were from West Bay, where the majority of locally transmitted cases have occurred.  However, all of the six results received during last week from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) tested negative.

So far, since the start of 2012 the health authority has results for 96 cases, 36 have been positive, 56 negative and four were inconclusive, with 21 results are pending as the disease becomes increasingly entreched in Cayman.

The total cases investigated for dengue in 2012 were 94, with a further 23 since the beginning of this year, and a total of 28 people have been treated in hospital for what can be a severe illness.

From these 36 confirmed cases, only 12 have reported a travel history to endemic countries with 24 patients contracting the mosquito borne disease locally, indicating that Cayman is no longer free of the disease.