Jamaica: Dengue fever infections rising in St James

Dengue fever is spreading speedily in the region of St James. The acting chief public health inspector for St James - Sherika Lewis gave the ghastly figure for the parish's Aedes index, which is the tag for the local level of dengue fever spread.

Jamaica: Dengue fever is spreading speedily in the region of St James. The acting chief public health inspector for St James – Sherika Lewis gave the ghastly figure for the parish’s Aedes index, which is the tag for the local level of dengue fever spread.

Lewis cited that for the previous month, St James inspected 5,636 premises, out of which 1,014 were positive for mosquito breeding; thus, the Aedes index reaches 18 per cent. He also noted that around 19,413 containers were inspected, and 2,096 were found positive for mosquito breeding.

Following the statement, he added, “We have re-engaged the temporary task workers for vector control, but fewer than 50 per cent of them were accounted for. Hence, we have a staff of 40 workers, down from 94 workers when compared to the last vector control programme that we had.”

While in an interview with the local website, Lewis noted the recent hikes in the Aedes index is in clear contrast to the record four per cent mark, which was reported in the month of July, which was 8 per cent lower than the month of June.

He emphasized that the passage of the recent tropical storm conditions would have increased the number of breeding sites,

This increase in the number of Dengue fever cases is a worrying situation for the region of St James as it is also the most contaminated area who is having the highest figures of COVID-19 infections.

The St James Health Department had earlier expressed concern about a possible mixing of dengue with the COVID-19 infections, which would overthrow the already stressed health system.

Despite this, Lewis also noted that the St James Health Department would soon begin an education campaign in some of the parish’s communities most afflicted by dengue spread, including sections of Maroon Town and Cambridge.

According to the statistics, there are a total of 75,857 confirmed cases of the deadliest COVID-19 mutant, while around 1,731 people scummed to death amid the outbreak in Jamaica.