THERE HAS been an upsurge in dengue fever cases reversing a downward trend in recent years.

In the last six weeks there was an increase of 224 suspected cases, representing 40 per cent of the 785 suspected cases so far for this year.

Area co-ordinators from the five polyclinics are to be updated on the situation this evening and are expected to say how they intend to combat this massive increase.

The upsurge in dengue fever cases coincides with unusually high rainfall last month of 353.8 millimetres (13.9 inches) - the highest October ever - which provided adequate water bodies for the Aedes aegypti mosquito to breed.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Ronald Knight said that the 785 suspected cases this year compared to 655 cases for last year - an increase of 20 per cent.

In 1997 there were 2 049 suspected cases, in 1998 there were 1 150, in 1999 it dropped to 600, but then last year it eased up to 655, and so far this year the number stands at 785 and is expected to climb.

An official in the ministry told the Weekend Nation the Six Roads Polyclinic's jurisdiction as well as the catchment covered by the Randall Phillips Polyclinic at Oistins topped the list of infected areas.

"The Six Roads catchment is baffling because we are not finding a big set of mosquitoes up there; so it appears that the people are being infected at work," said the official.

However, in the Randall Phillips catchment, mosquitoes were in abundance.

He said the areas with high rates of mosquito breeding under the jurisdiction of the Six Roads Polyclinic were Rices, Crane, Parish Land, Dash Valley, and Ellerton.

In the jurisdiction of the Randalls Phillip Polyclinic, the problem areas were Maxwell, Gall Hill, Silver Hill, St Matthias, and Dover.

"Last November we did a massive inspection of the Randalls Phillip catchment. We brought in officers from all over the island and found mosquito breeding sites," said the official.

A second officer said that one of the highly susceptible areas that is under scrutiny are the manholes of the South Coast Sewerage project which were ideal locations for mosquito breeding.

The officer identified 21 other areas in St Thomas, St James, and St Michael which had high levels of mosquito breeding.

In St Thomas the areas were Bryans Road, Sturges, Highland, Hopewell, Bridgefield and Cane Garden.

In St Michael - Green Hill, Welches, Fairfield, Brighton, Wavell Avenue, Free Hill, Deacons Road, Government Hill, Garrison, Clapham and Pine.

In St James - West Terrace, Hoyte's Village and Clermont.