Ministry confirms dengue outbreak in Cayo
The Ministry of Health has announced that cases of dengue have been detected in the Cayo District. According to a press release, infections have been reported in Belmopan and surrounding villages, Armenia, Cotton Tree, Valley of Peace, Unitedville, Ontario, Roaring Creek, and Camalote. Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, rash and pain behind the eyes. As a result of the outbreak, tonight the Ministry, in addition to launching a chemical counterattack against mosquitoes that carry the disease, is asking you to do your part to curb its spread by eliminating mosquito breeding sites in your homes and yards. This afternoon Director of Health Services Dr. Errol Vanzie told News Five what that campaign will entail.
Dr. Errol Vanzie, Director of Health Services
?Not the traditional one where we have trucks moving through the streets and we donate bags. We don?t have the time and resources for that right now, we need for people to just go out into the yard, spend thirty minutes, thirty-five minutes, pick up everything that is around the yard that can hold water and just dispose of it, bury it, burn it or bag it to make it available for the solid waste people to take it away. Besides that, the Ministry of Health is intensifying our spraying operations and vector control personnel is also conducting larviciding activities, meaning destroying larvae. And at the same time, we advise people that if they have the symptoms that we have already highlighted, that they don?t need to go to the clinic. What they need to do is to rest, drink lots of liquid, and if they have pain, which most people have joint or muscular ache, to take painkillers, mainly Tylenol, Motrin, but not to take anything that has aspirin.?
Janelle Chanona
?Aspirin makes it worse??
Dr. Errol Vanzie
Yes, it makes it worse. Dengue is a self-limiting disease that in three to four days will disappear. Very few cases have the potential to develop into dengue hemorrhagic fever. Fortunately for Belize we have never had a case before and we hope it will stay that way.?
According to the Ministry of Health, while labs here have confirmed the presence of dengue, additional samples have been sent abroad for confirmation of the disease.
