Surveillance at peak as Ministry ramps up fight against dengue fever

Sep 06, 2019 News

Surveillance is at a peak within the Ministry of Public Health even as efforts are made to keep dengue fever at bay. This is according to Dr. Cassindra Alonzo-Ash who revealed that through surveillance, the Ministry is able to detect areas where there is a high concentration of the mosquito vector, Aedes Aegypti, which is known to cause the tropical disease.

The Vector Control Unit is tasked with ridding the environment of mosquito vectors

“We are using surveillance so that we can get in the data and have a better awareness of which areas we need to target more urgently…” said the health official even as she pointed out that when an area is recognised as a hot spot for mosquitoes, efforts are immediately made to counter this. Once information of this nature is provided to the Vector Control Services Unit, the Aedes Diseases Programme Head said that this is shared with the Unit’s Entomology team which consists of Field Officers and Inspectors who head out into the field to assess the situation. “They would respond to the areas to do their own surveillance and this may be as a result of a call from residents informing us that they have an increase in their mosquito population…so our team would investigate to see why this has happened,” the doctor explained.
Seeking out breeding sites is usually the first and most important move, she added, pointing out that “source reduction or getting rid of all the breeding sites such as containers where mosquitoes can lay their eggs is crucial.”
But vector control officers in the field do not only help to identify breeding sites but they also sensitise residents about the important role they too must play to rid their environment of mosquitoes. “We have to let residents know not only to get rid of the breeding sites but exactly how they must do this. There are times people may throw away an old bucket which is a breeding site but on the walls of the container there are eggs and the minute it is submerged into water another colony of mosquito will be produced…so we need residents to be more aware of things like this,” Dr. Alonzo-Ash underscored.
While the ideal situation would be to travel house to house across the coastland, where the vector thrives, to ensure that communities are free of breeding sites, Dr. Alonzo-Ash said that human resource does not allow for this to materialise. For this reason, the Unit must rely heavily on surveillance which points to the areas with increased cases. “We have been doing some house to house visits between Georgetown and the East Bank…we have seen a lot of cases on the East Coast too, so we have been trying to sensitise more and more people there,” said Dr. Alonzo-Ash. She noted too that while fogging is a key tactic to help kill the dengue transmitting mosquitoes, without the proper removal of breeding sites, this could at times be in vain.
In addition to clearing clogged guttering, changing the water in vases, covering drums and barrels with mesh or nettings and the removal of other breeding sites, Alonzo said that residents must allow the fog, during fogging activities to pass through their homes. This therefore means that in communities being fogged, residents must leave their windows and even doors opened so that the purpose of fogging – killing the mosquitoes – can be accomplished. “Some people close up their doors and windows when we fog but we keep reminding them that they are only protecting the mosquitoes when they do that,” said Dr. Alonzo-Ash as she assured that although the chemical used may have a repugnant stench it will not harm residents once inhaled. However, it is advised that persons with asthma and other respiratory ailments take precautions during fogging exercises since this can exacerbate their conditions.