Barbados joins growing list of Caribbean countries on Dengue Alert!

STOP PRESS: Barbados releases Dengue figures for 2007.  More in this update  

Update 2 on October 17  

Grenada has followed suit; St. Kitts’ Health Minister makes appeal  

In trying to convince me that a mosquito infestation at her establishment was frustrating her guests, one BVI resort manager who shuttles regularly between the British Virgin Islands and Barbados told me some time back that there were no mosquitoes in Barbados.  What?  Is there any country in the Caribbean that is free of mosquitoes?  I think not!  (If you think otherwise, the Coalition would like to hear of it.)

Anyway, the following is for anyone who believes that there is any one island in this region, which is preferable as a destination of choice based strictly on Mosquito Indices – statistical measures of the prevalence of the Dengue mosquito.  In the case of Barbados, that country would not now be on a Dengue Alert were it not for the fact that the density of the Dengue mosquito there is at least high enough to support the transmission of the Dengue viruses.

Indeed, Barbados is one of the latest additions to a growing list of Caribbean countries to take notice of the Dengue Outbreaks in Puerto Rico and Jamaica on the one hand and Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica on the other.

Chief Medical Officer of Barbados, Dr. Joy St. John, placed the country on official Alert on Friday, October 12.  Her announcement came on the heels of a major overhaul of the clinical protocols for the management of Dengue by the Barbados Ministry of Health and the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners.

Like in Dominica, a public awareness programme has been launched in Barbados to raise awareness of Dengue.  Grenada has followed suit by intensifying its Dengue Fever campaign, spurred on in part by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) report on the increase of Dengue fever that has reached near epidemic levels in the Caribbean and Latin America.  There are, however, no reported cases of Dengue in the Spice Isle.  Still for all, the country is on guard and pledges to remain vigilant as this is one of the worst outbreaks in decades. 

But with respect to the Barbados programme, it has targeted the medical professionals in particular, I suppose to ensure that they do not to miss Dengue if at all their patients present the clinical manifestations of the disease.  This is an unimpeachable imperative if a Dengue event is to be caught early and mitigated.

Of course, the school and general populations in Barbados are also being co-opted by the Government to help prevent the disease from ever taking root on the island.  In this regard, CMO St. John is urging the people “co-operate” with the authorities by reducing the number of containers that could allow mosquitoes to breed in and around their premises.

Sanitation is key, which is why residents are asked to be mindful of the need to start reducing sources of breeding on their premises in order to discourage the proliferation of mosquitoes – and rats.  (Remember, Barbados has an ongoing fight to keep Leptospirosis under control.)   

The Dengue Control programme has already begun by the way.  And apart from “source reduction,” the Ministry intends to conduct a fogging operation in yet unspecified areas.

“With the rains back…I want every area, all across Barbados, to be vigilant.  I want people to listen out for Dengue control messages and help the ministry…,” St John said.  Barbados Light & Power (BL&P) Company and Cable & Wireless (C&W) are two corporate citizens that have taken the lead.  They are currently facilitating the inspection and treatment of their underground manholes by Environmental Health Officers.

Over in St. Kitts and Nevis, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patrick Martin has gone on radio to warn his people of the real possibility that there could be an outbreak of Dengue in the federation.  The CMO, in his wisdom, is especially concerned that the worsening of the Dengue situation in the Caribbean could well result in the reduction of the number of visitors to the region.  This he said could impact negatively on the economic growth potential of the region as a whole.

Thus, he repeated the simple piece of advice that our peoples would do well to take heed of and that is to rid the human environment of containers that collect water, containers such as coconut shells, cans, flower vases and pots, pet dishes, old tyres, tins, bottles.  And if I am put words in his mouth, it is equally as important to carefully manage containers used to store water – drums,  barrels, tanks, buckets and pails as well as roof gutters.     

We all should take heed.  Don’t you think?