There must be no relaxation in the fight against dengue

ALREADY weighed down by the devastating consequences of the novel coronavirus, which took hold in early 2020, Jamaicans found more reason for worry because of another health threat in mid-2023.

That was when news surfaced that dengue, the deadly mosquito-borne disease, was again on the rise — as it has periodically since it first ran riot here in 1977.

So it was with relief that we heard from Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton earlier this month that, despite a surge in the wider Americas and Caribbean, Jamaica appears to have “passed the worst” in terms of the latest dengue outbreak.

In late March, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) spoke of an alarming surge in the Americas, resulting in 3.5 million dengue cases and more than 1,000 deaths.

South American nations Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina were said to be the hardest hit at the height of the southern hemisphere summer when dengue vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, thrives due to warm and rainy weather.

However, in relation to further north in our geographical region, PAHO’S Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa cautioned that: “[W]e are also seeing an uptick in cases [afflicting Jamaica’s neighbours] such as Barbados, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique and Mexico…”

This is although dengue transmission is usually higher in the second half of the year when it’s hotter and wetter in our region.

Notwithstanding all that, the Sunday Observer of April 7 reported Dr Tufton as saying that, in Jamaica, dengue numbers from the outbreak which was officially declared last September “…are now coming down”.

Said the health minister: “Clearly we can’t become complacent, but we have passed the worst — and what is important is that we have not as many fatalities as we did the last time we had an outbreak [in 2019] and the system has been responsive, both [in terms of] public education and home visits”.

In early April the health ministry was reporting 23 deaths since the start of the latest outbreak, compared to more than 80 deaths in 2019.

“We have done better this time around…” said Dr Tufton.

However, experts say that dengue cycles are likely to become more frequent as more extreme weather events are triggered by climate change.

Dr Tufton and others in Jamaica’s health sector have repeatedly said that a key element is to keep the population aware on how best to eradicate mosquito-breeding sites, thereby avoiding or at least minimising mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.

This newspaper wants to believe that improved numbers from the latest dengue outbreak suggest public awareness programmes are having a positive effect at individual and community levels nationwide.

We trust that far more Jamaicans are attuned to the idea of systematically removing carelessly discarded material which can hold water and lead to the breeding of mosquitoes; and are now more careful to ensure their stored water do not become breeding sites for the loathsome insect.

Whatever it takes, those in charge must push hard to sustain the mission popularised in the creatively lively ditty of a few years back urging Jamaicans to “Bun mosquito and run weh dengue.”

Except for the views expressed in the column above, the articles published on this page do not necessarily represent the views of the Jamaica Observer.