No new Zika, Chikungunya cases since last outbreaks – Ministry official

Sep 18, 2019 News

Since battling with outbreaks of Chikungunya and Zika in 2014 and 2016 respectively, Guyana has reportedly not seen new cases of these viruses.

Both Zika and Chikungunya are transmitted by the Aedes type mosquitoes

At least this is according to the Ministry of Public Health’s Vector Control Services Unit head of Arboviral Diseases, Dr. Cassindra Alonzo-Ash.
This, however, does not mean that the Ministry’s surveillance system has dropped the detection of such cases from its radar altogether. On this note, Dr. Alonzo-Ash said that once persons are tested once they present symptoms that are likened to these diseases.
This often translates to physicians taking blood samples of patients.
Both Zika and Chikungunya are transmitted by the Aedes type mosquitoes and present similar symptoms including: rash, fever, joint pains, and headache. Neither disease is curable, but their symptoms would subside within three to seven days.
Although tests are not mandatory, they are done to ensure that the Ministry is fully aware of what mosquito borne diseases it is required to actively combat.
Initial tests are done at the National Reference Laboratory. Although the capacity of the national lab was some time ago limited, Alonzo-Ash affirmed that it has in place necessary reagents to undertake needed tests. However, the public health sector still depends on the capabilities of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency [CARPHA] to confirm tests, Dr. Alonzo-Ash said.
CARPHA is recognised as the single regional public health agency for the Caribbean. It was legally established in July 2011 by an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by Caricom Member States.
While the Chikungunya outbreak took its toll, there were even more concerns when Zika was detected. This was mainly due to the fact that pregnant women with it were at risk of transmitting it to their unborn babies causing them to be born with a worrying condition called microcephaly. Microcephaly is a birth defect where the baby’s head is underdeveloped.
Earlier this year the Ministry revealed that in excess of 20 cases of microcephaly births were recorded since 2016 and about 17 were benefiting from rehabilitative and paediatric services.
Zika has also been linked to the Guillain-Barre Syndrome which is a rare but serious autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks healthy nerve cells in the peripheral nervous system. This leads to weakness, numbness and tingling, and can eventually cause paralysis. There were reports of a single suspected case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome here.
Despite no recent cases of these tropical diseases have been detected, Guyana, like the rest of the Caribbean, continues to be on alert.
In fact CARPHA recently highlighted the need to use advanced technologies to collect and review data in order to prevent and respond to epidemics in a timely manner.
Applying these technologies, CARPHA said, allows agencies to address how the diseases spread geographically.
In this regard CARPHA partnered with the Emory University Center for Humanitarian Emergencies, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, together with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop capacity in the use of Geographic Information Systems [GIS] to aid in the combat of Zika and other arboviruses in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Participants from CARPHA Member States received advance training in Geographic Information for Vector Surveillance [GIVeS]. The aim was to integrate various innovative GIS technologies that can be used to strengthen health systems in the Region to manage and respond to the threat of vector-borne and other communicable diseases. This advanced training which took place at University of the West Indies, St. Augustine between the period August 12 and 16, 2019 is a follow up to a introductory level GIVeS course facilitated by CARPHA, Emory University Center for Humanitarian Emergencies, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 2017.