Trinidad and Tobago : Freeport grandad dies from dengue

Via Guardian :

" Relatives of Freeport grandfather Haniff Ali were looking forward to planning a celebration for his 59th birthday next week. Instead, they are making preparations for his funeral. Ali, of Calcutta No 1, Freeport, died from dengue haemorrhagic fever around 1.35 am yesterday at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the San Fernando General Hospital, where he had been warded since last Tuesday. When the T&T Guardian visited Ali’s home yesterday, relatives were still in shock and trying to come to terms with his death.


His daughter Krista, 23, said she was expecting her father to come home this week when they would have planned his birthday party for August 28. When the T&T Guardian arrived yesterday, relatives were removing a “Happy Birthday” banner from their front porch, which they had left hanging up in anticipation of Ali’s birthday celebrations on his return. The banner, they said, had been there since they held a birthday party earlier in the month for Ali’s granddaughter Celine, who turned eight.


Krista said her father was diagnosed with dengue last Saturday by their private doctor and was being treated with medication and intravenous (IV) drips. She said he was feeling better after that initial treatment. However, she said her father, a Revenue Officer IV at the Inland Revenue Office, Chaguanas, went to bed last Monday and woke up around 3 am bleeding."

Trinidad and Tobago : Influx of children with suspected dengue

Via Guardian :

" Throngs of parents yesterday waited for hours at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) seeking attention for children suspected of having dengue fever. Lining the corridor and the Paediatric Emergency Department of the hospital with crying and irritable children, were parents who complained bitterly of the slow pace at which healthcare was being administered. Father of three, Eric Martin of Red Hill, Morvant, expressed outrage at the length of time he had to wait for treatment for his one-year-old son Derrick Martin, who suffered a high fever and had been crying uncontrollably since Friday. Believing that his son was a dengue case, Martin went to the hospital around 10 am but up to 2 pm, he claimed, no doctor had seen his son.

Lying in the lap of her mother, eight-year-old Fiola Pinto, of Blanchisseuse itched. Covered in a discoloured rash, a symptom of dengue fever, Fiola’s mother Earla Pinto said her patience was running thin since she had been waiting over two hours to be attended to. A source at the hospital said staff had to split an adult ward on Friday to accommodate the growing number of children suspected of having dengue. The source said by yesterday, the makeshift ward was filled to capacity with nurses from other public hospitals being called out to handle the influx of children showing up for medical attention. Some nurses at the paediatric hospital who were scheduled to go off duty at 3 pm, left the hospital after 10 pm on Friday because of the volume of patients."

Trinidad and Tobago : 1,639 cases of dengue so far

Via Guardian :

" The number of reported dengue cases, as of July 30, are 1,639, with the highest number reported in Tobago. The statistics were provided yesterday by Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan at yesterday’s launch of the national campaign titled “Stop” at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain.

The campaign is a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Health to educate the public on strategies to stop the spread of dengue. Statistics showed the highest number of suspected dengue cases were in Tobago with over 450 cases, Caroni with 250 cases and St Andrew/ St David with just over 200 cases.

The ministry’s statistics showed 246 less cases of dengue than those provided by the ministry’s Insect Vector Control Division. According to statistics given to the media on Wednesday, the Insect Vector Control Division estimated there had been 1,885 cases of dengue from January to July 22."

Trinidad and Tobago : Probe into what may be second dengue death

An article from Guardian, excerpt :

" Investigations are continuing into the death of a Wallerfield security guard. At a news conference yesterday at the Ministry of Health’s head office, Port-of-Spain, chairman of the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) Dr Stephen Bhagan said the investigation into possible dengue victim Nicolas Marin, 21, had started. Marin died on February 8 at the Sangre Grande Hospital.

Questions were raised by family members about the cause of death on Marin’s death certificate. The certificate stated the cause of death as an arboviral illness. Chief Medical Officer Anton Cumberbatch explained to the the media that a dengue screening test was administered at the hospital which returned with a negative result. Cumberbatch said: “The screening tests may be inconclusive and samples were taken at the post-mortem that will be tested to determine the actual cause of death."

UK : Flu death toll rises as millions at risk remain unvaccinated

Via Guardian :

" An estimated 4 million people in England who are at risk of severe complications or death if they contract seasonal flu remain unvaccinated this year, government health officials said today.

The officials said there was "extreme difficulty" in getting the importance of immunisation across to those most at risk, with the news coming as the Department of Health revealed that 112 people across the UK had died from flu-related illness since September, with the highest number in the 45 to 64 age range.

Fatalities are more than double the 50 deaths reported last week, and include six children under five, nine aged five to 14 and 70 people aged 15 to 64."

Trinidad and Tobago : Dengue patients sleep on floor

A report from Guardian :

" Some two dozen people, suspected dengue cases, were forced to lie on the floor of the Ward 15 corridor at the San Fernando General Hospital for nearly eight hours yesterday because there was a shortage of beds.

Many of the patients were seen lying on benches as they waited for other patients to be discharged so that beds could become available. One man said, “I don’t know when they will get this right. So many sick people here waiting for a bed... and they bringing in more people.” A woman claimed she had been forced to wait several hours at the Accident and Emergency Department before being admitted to the ward.

“Right now I am still waiting to get a bed. They saying they may put me downstairs but so far nobody attending to me,” the woman said. A hospital source said up to 8 pm on Tuesday, the ward had a total of 62 patients. “We just cannot find the space. We had a lot of patients over the weekend. This is the medical ward so many people with suspected dengue are brought here,” the source said. According to the source, some of the patients were diagnosed with dengue. “These patients should have been isolated with nets around them but as it is, nothing is being done. So everyone here is likely to fall ill,” the source said."

Trinidad & Tobago : Dengue alert in Central

Via Guardian :

" Mayor of Chaguanas Orlando Nagessar is moving full speed ahead to deal with a rise in dengue cases in the busy central borough. Nagessar told the T&T Guardian that he was informed by Dr Venkataraman Balasetti, the borough’s Chief Medical and Health Officer, that ten cases were reported yesterday. The mayor said he visited four people with dengue at Lyle Lane, Felicity, yesterday. He said cases had also been reported in Longdenville and Enterprise.

He said cases had also been reported in Longdenville and Enterprise. Nagessar said he would be taking the necessary steps to ensure the affected areas were sprayed. He added that the borough had its own vehicle-mounted spraying machine. Balasetti said homes would be inspected for the dengue-carrying aedes aegypti mosquito and intensive spraying would be carried out where cases had been identified."

Trinidad & Tobago : Dengue outbreak

From Guardian, dengue cases are increasing :

" A dengue outbreak has been declared in T&T. The confirmed deaths of three people due to the virus, unconfirmed deaths of two others and more than 600 reported cases of dengue prompted chief medical officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch to make the declaration yesterday. Speaking during a news conference at the Ministry of Health’s Park Street office, Port-of-Spain, Cumberbatch said the number of reported cases of dengue could be more than 600, as private health institution were not reporting clinical cases to the ministry. “The rainy season lasts until December and we are in July, so this is not going to go away any time soon,” he said. “The rate of increase is at outbreak rate. “We may not have reached the numbers as before, but we have to declare that we have an outbreak going on.”

Dengue is spread by the aedes aegypti mosquito which survives and breeds in clear water. Among the symptoms of dengue fever include headache, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands and rash. Other signs include bleeding gums, severe pain behind the eyes, and red palms and soles. Cumberbatch said although there were clusters of dengue cases reported in specific areas, people living in other areas without such cases should not feel they are out of danger. He said of the five deaths, four occurred in South Trinidad.

161 cases in South

Chief executive officer of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Paula Chester-Cumberbatch said up to Thursday, 161 people were treated for dengue at the San Fernando General Hospital. She said this was compared to the 63 people treated in June. She said areas with prevalent cases of dengue were Marabella, San Fernando, Claxton Bay and Gasparillo. Cumberbatch said if citizens did not take the threat of the virus seriously, T&T would never get over the problem. He said dengue had been affecting T&T for the past 30 years, but because of the climate changes, the pattern has changed."

Trinidad & Tobago : Dengue breaks out in ‘Grande’

Via Guardian :

" A sharp rise in the number of confirmed dengue cases in the rural community of Guaico Tamana in Sangre Grande is creating fear and panic among residents. Chief medical officer of the Ministry of Health Dr Anton Cumberbatch, however, sees the 16 cases in the area and death of 27-year-old Anushka Buchoon, also from that community, as “a cluster of cases” rather than an outbreak.

Cumberbatch said an outbreak would only be announced when it affects the entire country and not one geographical district. But COP healthcare spokesman Dr Navi Muradali begged to differ, stating that once there were multiple cases within a district “it’s an outbreak.”

At least 13 confirmed dengue cases were stumbled upon by the Sunday Guardian during an hour of probing two side streets along the Guaico Tamana Road, while two others were reported in Quash Trace, Sangre Grande, with one woman being tested positive at the Sangre Grande Hospital (SGH) on Friday."

Trinidad & Tobago : Ministry mum on second dengue death

Via Guardian, is the dengue situation getting serious? :

" The Ministry of Health is yet to confirm whether there has been a second dengue fever death. Speaking at an award function at the Ministry’s head office, Park Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Dr Anton Cumberbatch, chief medical officer, Ministry of Health, said there has been another suspected dengue death. He said, though, that he was awaiting a report from the San Fernando General Hospital on whether it was a confirmed dengue death.

Cumberbatch’s statement came as relatives of 14-year-old Sherwin Bando said an autopsy on his body showed he died of dengue. Bando, nicknamed Christ, of Hillview Drive, Morne Wash, Williamsville, died on Sunday morning at the San Fernando General Hospital, days after he was admitted with symptoms similar to that of dengue. He was buried on Tuesday. During a press conference last week, the Ministry revealed there was one confirmed death from dengue in June.

The ministry stated then that the number of dengue cases being reported at hospitals and to the ministry has been “increasing quite dramatically.” The ministry said from January to the end of June this year more than 400 clinical dengue cases were reported."

Uganda : Malaria still major problem in Katine

Via Guardian :

" Malaria still tops the list of life-threatening diseases in Katine, despite efforts by development partners to reduce the number of cases in the sub-county.

Statistics from Tiriri health centre, Katine's major health centre, ranks malaria as the disease with the highest number of cases in the sub-county in north-east Uganda. Respiratory infections come second, followed by intestinal worms, urinal infections and diarrhea.

According to figures, before the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) started its work in Katine, funded by Guardian readers and Barclays, there were 9,682 cases of malaria between 2006 and 2007, with three deaths (one adult and two children).

There were 3,905 respiratory infections, 1,152 cases of worms, 969 urinary infections and 583 cases of diarrhea. In 2008-09, there were 10,884 cases of malaria, with six deaths. Figures for the other four conditions were 4,271, 1,090, 921 and 478 cases respectively.

Amref figures for the period October 2009 to March 2010 record 2,649 malaria cases."