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Health Ministry working with Prison Service to tackle Chickenpox outbreak
Lusignan Prison
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that it has been working with the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) to tackle a chickenpox outbreak at the Lusignan Prison, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The statement was in response claims made by Opposition Shadow Health Minister, Dr. Karen Cummings that the outbreak could have been prevented had there been better screening policies in place at the prison. “The MOH (Health Ministry) rejects totally the assertion by the PNC/APNU that the MOH and the medical team that work with Prisons Health have not taken adequate actions to combat the chickenpox outbreak in the Lusignan Prison”, the ministry said, while assuring prisoners and their relatives and staff members at the prison that “all necessary actions are being taken to ensure no further spread of chickenpox occurs at the Lusignan Prison”.
The ministry said that the outbreak had only affected 53 inmates and was likely started by either a prisoner or a staff member or a visitor. “The medical and surveillance teams are presently conducting contact tracing to identify the source of the infection”, it added.
Affected inmates according to the ministry were treated with (Acylovir and Calamine Lotion while the rest of the inmates and staff members at the prison were vaccinated by the Varicella-Zoster Virus vaccine. “The medical team will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that the outbreak is halted” the ministry said while adding “At the moment, the outbreak appears to be under control”.
It continued that chickenpox outbreaks in prisons settings are not rare and have been commonplace in detention centers across the world.
“Varicella-Zoster virus is one of the most contagious infections among unvaccinated and non-immune populations”, the ministry said as it accused the Opposition of creating unnecessary panic by giving the impression that outbreak is “out of control”.
Dr. Cummings in her statement on behalf of the Opposition had said, “The coalition confidently expresses that there should have been better screening policies and tools to indicate evidence of varicella immunity especially for incoming inmates who are in the care of the State”, She added too that, “Special attention should also have been paid to the staff members and the inmates who are susceptible and are in close quarters where transmission and spread of the disease could easily occur”.
Meanwhile, the prison service in an update of the outbreak on Wednesday said, that there are no new cases of chickenpox at Lusignan Prison. “So far, there have been no new cases of chickenpox detected at the Lusignan Prison, and according to Officer-in-charge, Deoraj Gyandat, seven of the 25 active cases have been clear” the prison service said.
According to the prison service, screening processes are currently taking place at prison to avoid the spread. “All currently incarcerated people have been screened once, and new admissions are screened when they arrive,” the GPS stated while explaining that the screen is a questionnaire “to better determine the risk of an offender contracting chickenpox.” It was noted too that if individuals are suspected of having the virus, they will be presumptively isolated.
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