Health Minister touts delayed pregnancies

Jun 10, 2016 News

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…as fears associated with Zika Virus persist
The continued caution over the Zika Virus has certainly not lessened. In fact Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton said that “persons should take into consideration whether it is the best time to make (conceive) their children now.”

Since the spread of the Zika virus was reported, a number of territories including Jamaica, El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador have called on women to delay pregnancies.
This is not only because the virus has been linked to microcephaly (abnormal smallness of the head in newborn babies), but because of the fact that it has been proven that the virus can be transmitted sexually.
It is believed that an infected pregnant woman can transmit the virus to her newborn, who could be born with microcephaly. Several such cases have been reported in Brazil – Guyana’s neighbour to the south.
“When a baby is born with microcephaly and lives for another 70 years it can be a burden on society…so we have got make some very conscientious decisions now when we talk about family planning. We have to think about whether we should get a baby now or not,” the Minister considered. “We can’t hide from it (Zika)…it is out there and it has even occurred in the United States, at least one case we have heard of,” he added.
The Public Health Ministry has thus far divulged information about nine confirmed cases of the Zika Virus. Guyana has been depending heavily on the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad to diagnose for the virus which is manifested with muscle and joint pains, rashes, conjunctivitis (pink eye) and headaches. Symptoms could last between two and seven days.
Two personnel attached to the National Public Health Reference Laboratory have completed training to test for the ZIka Virus. The training, according to Minister Norton, was done at CARPHA.
But although the training has been completed, the Minister confided that “while we would have sent the two persons to be trained at CARPHA…they came back, but I am not so certain that all mechanisms are in place to start doing the test regularly.”
“We have the equipment and so on, but we need certain reagents,” said Minister Norton who noted that the Ministry has been assured support from the Pan American Health Organisation.
But according to him, “procurement of reagents and so on is a lengthy process, in the sense that you have to go to tender and you have got to get the letters of authorisation from the manufacturers for those who are actually tendering.”
The Minister pointed out that the procurement of such items would have to be done either through restrictive tendering or single sourcing rather than through open tender. This therefore would require approval of tendering.
Dr Norton said that the Ministry continues to be very concerned about the prevalence of the virus, which can be easily transmitted by the bites of the Aedes Aegypti-type mosquito. And according to him, “we know its particular manifestation, but what we are concerned more about is the neurological complications.”
The Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly and the Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. Based on medical reports, the Guillian-Barré syndrome is a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.
According to the Minister, while there have been no reported cases of microcephaly, cases of the Guillian-Barré syndrome have been reported since 2011. In fact he disclosed that although there was an average of about five cases per year, in the last two or three months the cases reported have doubled.
The cases to which the Minster referred were those of patients admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital, and most of them had to be cared for in the Intensive Care Unit. About two of the cases ended in death and the others are recovering, the Minister related.
“It is bad in the sense that it requires extensive treatment and persons take a long time before they recover completely. That is the bad thing about Zika…those neurological complications,” the Minister emphasised.
He noted that while the Ministry will continue its fight against the transmitting vector in terms of fumigation activities, efforts at sensitising the public about measures that should be in place to prevent transmission of the virus will remain a constant feature as well.
Persons who believe they have been exposed to the virus should seek attention from the nearest health facilities. There is no cure for the virus, but treatment is made available for the symptoms manifested.
In addition to sleeping under netting and removing mosquito breeding sites, persons can also protect themselves by using insect repellent and wearing clothes (preferably light-coloured) that cover as much of the body as possible.

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