Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 08, 2014 News
While there have reportedly been thousands of cases of clinical Chikungunya Virus countrywide, the Health Ministry has
only been able to confirm just over 100 of these cases by using the expert services of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad.
This is according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, said, “We are better able to manage Chikungunya than we were a few months ago…”
He however, cautioned that it is not a disease to just go and get some leave for, and then you go and get this magnificent injection; then you feel well and you walk about and go to parties and so on…It is important to take rest as you recover. “
He acknowledged seeing the results of 103 confirmed cases and added that about 12 more recently returned from CARPHA.
Although it is believed that the virus has reached all the regions of the country, Dr. Persaud intimated that thus far, there have been no confirmed cases in Region Two and there have only been three in Region Ten. Nevertheless, there are continued reports of clinical cases in these areas, he said.
He added, “Our largest number of positives still, is occurring along the East Coast Demerara corridor going towards Berbice, West Demerara and along the East Bank of Demerara.”
Dr. Persaud said that while Guyana is yet reliant on CARPHA it has since, with the help of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), been able to train people (who are certified to package and send samples to CARPHA) of the local National Public Health Reference Laboratory to test for the virus here.
He however, noted that while all the relevant equipment and (testing) kits are here to facilitate testing, “we are awaiting some panels to determine positive and negative samples…so we can try the kits to make sure that when we test and it says positive, it is really a positive. They are going through that process now.”
And even as sustained efforts are being made to bolster its fight against the virus through vector control, Dr. Persaud admitted that there just might be further need to strengthen the response in this regard.
He said that while fogging has had some impact, major benefits can however, be had from the individual householder’s control of the breeding of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.
The Aedes Aegypti mosquito has been labelled as the Chikungunya virus transmitting vector and, according to Dr. Persaud, “it is not found predominantly in the dirty drains, it is found in the homes – in your storage rain water tanks, in your tyres in your yards that collect rain water, and even your clogged drainage gutters.”
He emphasised the importance of changing the water in vases around the home as frequent as every three days.
Dr. Persaud said, that his Ministry has been encouraging persons to embrace stringent clean up campaigns which he believes have had a positive impact on the existing Chikungunya situation.
He said, too, that another challenge facing the health sector is the fact that the virus can become endemic among domestic animals such as dogs.
This in essence means, Dr. Persaud explained, that “they can become reservoirs and continue to spread the virus. The use of the mosquito net is paramount…if you have any signs of Chikungunya virus, I think it should be emphasised that, that person should be under a net and that person should be prevented from being bitten because he or she, would be the source of the virus.”
While preventing the virus is linked to the individual’s adherence in terms of keeping their environment clean, and protecting themselves from exposure to the virus, the CMO disclosed that once infected there could be some very debilitating effects.
Once bitten by an infected mosquito the virus can manifest in a human being with a number of symptoms including headaches, nausea and/or vomiting, rash, high fever along with muscle and joint pains. And the latter symptoms, according to Dr. Persaud, could persist for rather extended periods.
“Unfortunately, people who have the Chikungunya virus may encounter prolonged pains, and we are noticing that…we were getting reports that it can last for six weeks, now, it is six months and I have heard that it could be up to three years…that the pains and the damage from the joints and so on can affect persons,” according to the CMO.
He continued that the Chikungunya virus “is a disease that you have to take serious, take your symptomatic treatment (as there is no cure), stay confined for at least a period of seven days and allow yourself to recover well and you probably would not have so much joint pains.”
But in order to deal with the resulting pains, he stressed that the Ministry of Health is urging that persons make use of the simplest pain relievers and avoid, at all cost, the most advanced ones since they have complications and side-effects.
Among the complications, the CMO noted, could be kidney damage. “Some of things people need to avoid are the injectable pain relievers, those that are steroidal…they might bring fast relief but long term effects, if you use them repeatedly or for too long; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory also can have some of those effects,” said Dr. Persaud as he encouraged the use of pain relievers such as Panadol.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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