| Date: Thu 17-Feb-1994 Publication: Daily Nation Writer: THE MINISTRY of Health, citing success in its mosquito eradication campaign, is reporting a decline in the incidence of dengue fever. A Government release said January witnessed a drastic decrease in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries dengue. The campaign was stepped up in October 1993 after an increase in the mosquito population, with most reports being made from the Black Rock catchment area of Brighton, and the Pine area. Prior to October, however, there had been sporadic cases from as early as April, 1993. By December 1993 the Queen Elizabeth Hospital had sent 497 samples of suspected cases of dengue fever to the Caribbean Epidemiological Centre in Trinidad for confirmation. Out of these, 18 per cent tested positive for the type four while none was diagnosed with the more dangerous dengue haemorrhagic fever. The three-pronged eradication campaign comprises an island-wide fogging exercise, with the main focus being areas where reports of greater mosquito activity are most numerous. Running in conjunction with the fogging exercise is an educational programme utilising both radio and television. Health inspectors have also been mobilised with an increase in home visits and talks at schools, polyclinics and to youth groups, about the part they can play in helping to eradicate the mosquito around the home. The Ministry of Health said it was pleased with the decline in the mosquito indices and reports of dengue fever, and acknowledged that this could not have been achieved without the support of the general public. This is much apparent since the fogging exercise only targets the adult mosquito, with a four to five day span of effectiveness. Public support is therefore critical to the eradication and control of the earlier stages of mosquito development, and the public is being encouraged to continue its efforts by maintaining clean surroundings and by checking and properly disposing of objects outside and inside the home which may aid in the mosquito breeding process, the release said. |