Page sponsored by Tourism Development Corporation
Publication: Daily Nation
Paper Page: 23A
Paper Date: Wed, Feb 23, 2000
Byline: Compiled by Terry Ally
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Page sponsored by Tourism Development Corporation |
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AN emergency dengue plan is in the making for Barbados - and for very good reason.
More than 50 per cent of the population of Barbados is seropositive for dengue fever, according to estimates from the Dengue Branch of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Puerto Rico.
What does that mean?
At least one in every two Barbadians walking around was infected with one or more of the four strains of dengue fever.
Based on the decadal population statistics between 1977 and 1997, using an average sick leave of two weeks for each employed person, Barbados lost at least 3.5 million man-hours in productivity. When one calculates the cost of earnings, the cost in medical care, the cost in National Insurance claims, the cost in health insurance claims, it translates into millions of dollars which could have been productively used for other purposes.
The fact that dengue Type 3 has arrived in Barbados is alarming because it is believed to be more virulent that other strains and leads to the deadly dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). It also means that all four strains of the virus are in circulation.
According to Dr. Gary Clark of the Control Disease Centre, in the best equipped hospital in the world five per cent of all DHF cases die, and this is considered a very good recovery rate. Of course, in not so well-equipped hospitals the death rate will rise.
The alarming thing for Barbados is that dengue Type 3 had vanished from the Caribbean region in the 1970s and so an entire generation of Barbadians was never exposed to the virus.
Clark said dengue fever was widespread during the 1930s, but by the 1970s the disease, spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, was under control and eradicated in many countries. Two decades later the disease rebounded with a vengeance in tropical and temperate countries.
Barbados' Senior Medical Officer Dr. Ronald Knight said dengue fever occurred every two to three years in Barbados but 1995 was the turning point when an estimated 40 per cent of the population became sick with dengue fever Type 2.
It never left.
And since 1997 cases are reported every month.
Should dengue Type 3 strike this year, there is a whole generation that would be susceptible.
Those who are particularly susceptible are those who habitually become infected.
Wherever fresh water collects the mosquito will breed, and that includes places where there is much littering and illegal dumping.
People who get multiple infections are living in littered and untidy environments, and these people are the prime targets for dengue Type 3 whenever it strikes - unless they clean up their surroundings. Ridding one's environment of litter and illegally dumped garbage, ensuring plant pots are cleaned frequently and water changed regularly are just the start of dengue eradication.
Other countries eradicated the disease and so can we; but it must be an individual effort.
Gas-powered turbine
General Electric and the United States Department of Energy have announced a major breakthrough in natural gas-powered turbine technology, which they say will significantly cut fuel usage and reduce dangerous gases thought to cause global warming. Industry experts said the new system produces a kilowatt-hour of electricity on 5 685 British thermal units, compared to nearly 6 000 BTU's for older gas systems. (Reuters)
Backyard bird watching
Amateur naturalists across America last Friday started a project to help document the ebb and flow of wintering birds - starting in their own backyards. The Great Backyard Bird Count 2000 harnesses the eyes and ears of bird enthusiasts to aid scientists in learning which species are doing well - and which may be in trouble. (ENS)
Panda for rent
A collaboration between China and the United States called Rent-A-Panda is supplying American zoos with rare giant pandas in exchange for large fees to fund scientific research. Scientists hope the studies will help rescue the species from the brink of extinction. (ENN)
A massive anti-litter campaign is in force across America as litter starts to pile up for the first time in decades.
The city of Nashville transformed 120 vacant lots, once a magnet for graffiti,
illegal dumping and other acts of vandalism, into sites of affordable housing for families.
In Memphis, the city created an environmental court and SWAT team to stop illegal dumping and other environmental crimes.
The city of Indianapolis solicited the help of business and community leaders to stem the decay in inner-city neighbourhoods by allowing students and their parents to create butterfly and rock gardens, wetlands habitat and a nature trail, all on blighted lots.
In Cincinnati, the city adopted a Lid It! campaign, requiring lids on all garbage cans, after a survey showed that improperly covered trash receptacles were one of the major causes of litter.
And the city of Norfolk, Virginia, formed the Neighbourhood Environmental Assessment Team (NEAT) to rid departments of piecemeal and delayed enforcement.
NEAT has succeeded in convincing the Virginia General Assembly to create 12 new blight bills, including a "spot blight" law that allows localities to acquire title to blighted properties through a condemnation process. (ENN)
British Nuclear Fuels, the company which ships nuclear waste through the Caribbean Sea, faces a government review into whether it should be banned from managing Britain's stockpile of nuclear weapons after being criticised for a series of safety failures.
The inquiry will rule on whether the company is fit to manage the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, Berkshire, as part of a consortium after a report exposing safety failures at its Sellafield site.
The company was condemned for "serious management failures" last week after inspectors found quality control workers had falsified records since 1996.