CARPHA urges public to guard against mosquito-borne diseases
Published:Friday | May 8, 2020 | 10:15 AM
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is urging people in the region to remember that despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they must be mindful that other public health threats still exist.
CARPHA executive director, Dr Joy St. John, in a message in observance of Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week 2020, noted that mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and zika have placed an additional burden on the region’s health care systems and negatively impact social and economic development.
“As individuals and communities, we each have a role to play in preventing an upsurge of mosquito-borne diseases,” she added.
Head of Vector Borne Diseases at CARPHA, Dr Laura-Lee Boodram, said during 2019, the Caribbean region experienced another outbreak of dengue, with many member states reporting an increase in the number of severe and hospitalised cases.
“Dengue outbreaks tend to occur in cycles every few years due to a complex interplay between population, ecological and climatic factors”, she said, adding “while we haven’t seen a resurgence of chikungunya or zika within member states in the last few years, countries in South and Central America did report outbreaks of chikungunya in 2019 and early 2020, therefore, the Caribbean must remain vigilant”.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders at their summit in 2014 declared Mosquito Awareness Week as an important reminder to the general public to take action to reduce their risk of diseases spread by mosquitoes.
CARPHA said as the rainy season starts, it is expected that greater rainfall will lead to a proliferation of mosquito breeding sites, build vector populations and increase the risk of transmission of diseases such as dengue.
To counter this increase in mosquitoes and potential disease transmission, greater effort should be placed on mosquito awareness in communities and vector control activities should be intensified.
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