Dengue Outbreak: The Bahamas reports death of nine-year-old

Nassau, The Bahamas: The Health Authorities of the Bahamas have confirmed the death of a nine-year-old kid from dengue fever. The death has been confirmed as the country has been experiencing an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Bahamas, Dr Pearl McMillan, recently conducted a press conference and notified the general public about the outbreak. CMO noted, “He presented with a viral type illness but did not continue with the care that was provided and, unfortunately, he succumbed to the illness.”

She further mentioned that the nation has been facing an outbreak of dengue fever, and “We later got the results back, and we know that it was dengue.”

In this regard, the Health and Wellness Minister – Dr Michael Darville, shared the details related to the increasing cases of fever in the nation. According to him, the nation has recorded as many as 88 cases of dengue, out of which around 70 were registered last week.

During the press conference, he unveiled that the majority of the cases of the disease have been reported in New Providence, with Berry Islands and Exuma reporting one case each and Grand Bahama has registered a total of six cases. It was further revealed that the cases on Exuma and the Berry Islands were imported from New Providence.

With the increasing number of dengue fever, the health authorities have asked the public to follow all the important precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the dengue fever. It informed that the people must take care of every detail, including turning over any buckets or containers outside their homes.

In this regard, the Environment Minister of the Bahamas – Vaughn Miller, also raised concern and stated that the ministry is busy controlling the vector. In addition to this, Dr Darville outlined that the authorities will make a team which will travel to Exuma for vector control.

History of Dengue in the Bahamas:

Prior to this, the Bahamas witnessed a dengue outbreak in the year 2011, when around 205 people died because of the virus. At that time, total number of suspected cases was 7,200.

Dengue fever:

The disease is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The common symptoms include: headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, rashes, aches, and pains in body parts such as eyes, muscles, bones and joints.