Surge in dengue cases eases – Health Minister

After months of Guyana recording more dengue cases and deaths than usual, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony said it appears as though the surge has eased.

For the year so far, 11 people died after they were affected by dengue; over 2,100 people were infected with the disease. Across the Americas, over three million cases were recorded and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the rise in dengue cases may be linked to global warming.

Because of the local surge, Dr. Anthony told reporters on Wednesday that the Health Ministry focused on eliminating mosquitoes.

“We did a lot of work on fogging which means that we are killing a lot of the adult mosquitos that’s the main vector for transmission and we also did a lot of work in killing the larvae.

“…We have noted that there has been a substantial decline in the mosquito population,” Dr. Anthony said.

He also noted that more people are getting tested with testing kits distributed to all regions. This led to more early detections which meant people could have gotten treatment faster.

Now, Dr. Anthony said no one else has died and there are no longer many people getting critical care at any Intensive Care Units.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease and its symptoms include high fevers, head and body aches and nausea.

The WHO said these increased infections are, in part, linked to global warming. Increased temperatures are said to be conducive for the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which spreads the disease and thrives in stagnant water.