Most dengue cases reported in Paramaribo

Most of the nation’s 26 cases of dengue were reported in Paramaribo. “The cases were reported all over Paramaribo so we can’t say that they only came from a certain area,” said Stephanie Cheuk Alam, acting head of Environment Inspection. She pointed out that there are various factors that contributed to the fact that most of the dengue cases were reported in the nation’s capital. The most important factor is that people fail to keep their environment and yards clean. “In the other districts the district commissioners and their team launched cleanup campaigns during the past couple of years which is why the risk of getting dengue elsewhere is small. Paramaribo also did the same but maybe it is time again to look at which issues must be addressed to prevent dengue from spreading,” said Cheuk Alam who added that “Suriname is in the alarm phase” and that “this means that this disease could drop or rise in the coming period.” “There is no epidemic and the important thing now is to raise awareness so that people know which measures to take to protect themselves against dengue. We will beef up the information campaigns but we also need manpower for that. We will increase the frequency of visits to neighborhoods to check if people are keeping their environment clean. We will have a serious talk with those who fail to keep their environment clean. Fumigations in the residential areas is our last option because it only happens at a given moment in time. When the fumigations take place the adult mosquitoes die but after a few days there are many other mosquitoes who carry this disease,” said Cheuk Alam.