PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jul 23, CMC – Health authorities Tuesday confirmed that here has been an increase in the number of cases of dengue fever in Trinidad and Tobago and are appealing to people to take the necessary precautions to curb the spread of the disease’.
The Ministry of Health in a statement said that there are now 450 laboratory confirmed cases and four deaths.
On July 12, the Technical Director, Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health, Dr Avery Hinds, told a news conference that “at this point pending the next batch update from the laboratory, we are still at 229 confirmed cases and two confirmed deaths”.
The ministry had also played down downplayed suggestions of an outbreak of the virus.
“The public reminded that dengue fever may be spread by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito (and that) symptoms appear with 5-6 days of being bitten (and) last for 1-2 weeks,” the ministry said.
It said the symptoms include fever, headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains, skin rash, vomiting and diarrhoea and that persons showing such symptoms should seek immediate medical treatment.
The ministry said it was reminding people that the best means of reducing the incidence of mosquito borne diseases is through the elimination of breeding sites.
Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh said the simple message to the population is ‘to focus on source reduction in your homes, inside your homes, around your homes and with your neighbours wherever there is clear, clean standing still water, which is the principal breeding sites for the Aedes species mosquito…
CMC/f/ir/2024