The Nassau Guardian
More cases of chikungunya fever expected
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Delon Brennen yesterday warned that the number of cases of chikungunya fever will increase and suggested the transmission rate could be worse than the dengue outbreak of 2011.
Dengue affected 1,500 Bahamians in 2011.
Brennen said health officials have been bracing for the introduction of chikungunya to The Bahamas given its rapid spread across the Caribbean.
“Chikungunya has spread a lot throughout the region,” he told reporters.
“When you look at the numbers, chikungunya has been spreading from one island nation to the other. So almost the entire Caribbean is being affected.
“So even when you look at what dengue was doing a few years ago, this is an even larger increase than what we saw from dengue at that time.
“It’s likely that we are going to see fairly large numbers. It doesn’t mean necessarily that locally we’re going to see large numbers, but we’re going to see large numbers in the region and we’re seeing large numbers of it. So we have to be prepared to protect ourselves just in case we see large numbers as well.”
Up to July 11, there were nearly 350,000 suspected cases of chikungunya fever in the Caribbean and nearly 5,000 confirmed cases, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Brennen noted that chikungunya is not as deadly as dengue.
The chikungunya virus is spread through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is found throughout the country.
There were four confirmed cases up to yesterday. The first case was confirmed on July 4.
Brennen said at least two cases were imported by residents who recently visited countries that are experiencing a chikungunya outbreak.
“Again, it isn’t much of a surprise. Once it started we knew that it was going to continue,” he said.
“It really is [about] getting people to protect themselves…No matter how much we go out and we spray large properties, if you don’t do it around your home…you’re going to have more spread from one location, from one home to another and then into the larger community. So we have to protect ourselves.”
Brennen said it is very likely that health officials will begin to see local transmission as well.
“So we can’t rest on our laurels and say ‘oh it was imported’,” he said.
“We are going to get more cases at some point with the amount of travel, especially during the summer with people going places and people coming to visit us.”
The Ministry of Environmental Heath Services recently engaged in a “systematic monitoring” program and has increased its fogging program across the country, following the confirmation of the first case, officials said.
Symptoms of the virus include high fever and severe joint pains in the hands and feet, which can persist for weeks.
Other symptoms include muscle pain, joint swelling and rash.
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