Over 85% of dengue cases recorded in the country for the year so far come from southern communities across Trinidad.
During a Ministry of Health news conference at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital on Friday, Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the government continues to do its part to ease the spread of the disease, but the public continues to resist advice and warnings.
Reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh tells us more.
00:00The counties of Victoria, St. Patrick and Kareni are accounting for over 86% of the cases.
00:08The Minister of Health says the country has now officially recorded 509 cases of dengue and five deaths linked to the mosquito-borne disease.
00:18Dengue cases and deaths have been on a steep incline globally this year and here at home it's the same with the young and old most affected.
00:29The age group between 6 and 20 years old is accounting for 78% of the cases.
00:40So the younger population, those most likely to succumb to severe dengue, especially severe hemorrhagic dengue where you have bleeding,
00:51is going to be the younger population, children and the elderly with comorbidities.
00:56Because your immune system in children isn't well developed and your immune system in the elderly with comorbidities is compromised.
01:03The Ministry's Insect Vector Control Department says they have visited over 150,000 homes for the year already and it's clear
01:13the main breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito include barrels of water, gardening containers, plant pot saucers
01:22and unsanitary environments littered with garbage.
01:26On Thursday, the Minister and members of the IVCD emphasised that the mosquitoes which carry the dengue virus
01:34breed in clean, stagnant water and rejected complaints that unclear drains are contributing to the rise in cases.
01:42The main source of breeding is clear, clean, stagnant water and not the mossy drains and ponds that the media loves to highlight
01:53and asks what are we doing about the mossy drain, the stagnant drain.
01:59This is the evidence. They are alive and well here in clean, clear, stagnant water and they do not survive in the dirty drain water.
02:10He says so far, public health inspectors have served 166 homeowners with notices to clean up their act but to date, none have been fined.
02:24They are actually getting people who are hostile and uncooperative.
02:31If these inspectors are not there to barter you, they are there to advise you. They are there to save lives.
02:41We don't want to charge people. We just want to encourage people to be responsible.
02:47Minister Dyal Singh says they are developing a legal platform which they plan to take to the Attorney General soon
02:54to see what other legal measures can be implemented if they don't get the level of cooperation needed from the public to tackle the rise in cases.
03:04The Health Minister underscores spraying is not the answer.
03:09If spraying is to be effective, you have to spray the same area every 10 days when each cycle of adults arise.
03:18That is physically impossible and biologically irresponsible because what happens is that you build up resistance in the mosquitoes
03:29and over-spraying is dangerous to human health, fish, animal, insect health and you destroy the ecosystem.
Be the first to comment