Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 22, 2016 News
While local medical practitioners are claiming that they have been diagnosing patients with the mosquito-borne Zika Virus, Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton said that only the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) can make such diagnosis.
The Minister explained that Zika cases are only confirmed when samples sent to Trinidad are tested. When these results return, it shows whether a person has the virus or not.
The Ministry has sent a total of 88 cases to CARPHA of which the two cases were confirmed. The turnaround time for the result is a week for each batch sent.
The first case was diagnosed last January in a Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara (EBD) woman.
She has been treated and is doing well. A second case was confirmed this month in a 16-year-old Eccles resident. He too had been treated and is back in school.
Persons living with the victims were all monitored by health workers for signs of the virus.
As of late last week, a Diamond, EBD, woman complained of showing symptoms of the virus but to say she has Zika is premature, according to the Health Minister.
He stressed that it can only be confirmed when the samples sent to Trinidad, return.
That woman, Dr. Norton said, had travelled to neighbouring Suriname prior to her experiencing those symptoms.
There are reports that the woman had complained about experiencing a slight fever before she departed Guyana. Upon her return, she visited the hospital after seeing rashes on her skin.
There, her samples were taken to be sent to CARPHA- the results have not yet returned.
The Zika Virus is transmitted to humans by the Aedes Aegypti type mosquitoes. The mosquito borne virus is manifested with symptoms such as fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, rash and sometimes swelling of the limbs.
Some persons may also experience vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. A very distinct symptom too is that of conjunctivitis (red eyes). Symptoms, however, are usually mild, health officials have observed.
While the virus may start with a fever and then with a rash followed by conjunctivitis (red eye), there are some cases where it appears with no symptoms.
“Zika is a mild disease in most persons and can even present (itself) without any symptoms. There might be people who are relatively healthy and might have the virus,” Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud had told this newspaper.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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