Dengue fever claims 2 lives in SVG
A nine-year-old boy and a middle age woman are confirmed to have died as a result of dengue fever in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Both victims were from the Calliaqua area.
This latest development was shared by Chief Medical Officer Dr Simone Keizer-Beache as the country grapples with growing dengue cases.
As of September 22, she said there were 374 laboratory confirmed cases of dengue in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
On September 20, Keizer-Beache said 167 people turned up at the emergency room seeking care for dengue fever.
The CMO said the island’s dengue response plan will go into high gear.
Public awareness programmes at the cost of EC $29,000 will be conducted over the next few days, $210,000 will be pumped into vector control and 10 additional doctors as well as six nurses will be employed.
St Vincent and the Grenadines has also reached out to PAHO for additional support as a number of cases involve children, with challenges being faced where there is renal impairment.
Meanwhile, epidemiologist Tamara Bobb reminded that dengue is endemic to St Vincent and the Grenadines which means every year there are cases.
She said over the last 10 years, SVG experienced outbreaks in dengue cases in 2010 and 2012.
Bobb said in 2020 somewhere in July it was noticed that the number of cases started to increase.
In July, 47 dengue cases were recorded and now there are 374.
The majority of infections have been found in persons under 25, of which 53 per cent are children 15 years and under.
This latest development was shared by Chief Medical Officer Dr Simone Keizer-Beache as the country grapples with growing dengue cases.
As of September 22, she said there were 374 laboratory confirmed cases of dengue in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
On September 20, Keizer-Beache said 167 people turned up at the emergency room seeking care for dengue fever.
The CMO said the island’s dengue response plan will go into high gear.
Public awareness programmes at the cost of EC $29,000 will be conducted over the next few days, $210,000 will be pumped into vector control and 10 additional doctors as well as six nurses will be employed.
St Vincent and the Grenadines has also reached out to PAHO for additional support as a number of cases involve children, with challenges being faced where there is renal impairment.
Meanwhile, epidemiologist Tamara Bobb reminded that dengue is endemic to St Vincent and the Grenadines which means every year there are cases.
She said over the last 10 years, SVG experienced outbreaks in dengue cases in 2010 and 2012.
Bobb said in 2020 somewhere in July it was noticed that the number of cases started to increase.
In July, 47 dengue cases were recorded and now there are 374.
The majority of infections have been found in persons under 25, of which 53 per cent are children 15 years and under.
