…as Region records 332 dengue cases last month
Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, on Thursday, addressed the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) during its monthly meeting, and revealed that two young children have died recently from dengue related complications. 
The two, a 6-year-old, who died Saturday, May 3, and an 11-year-old, who died Wednesday, May, 7, are among the hundreds of cases of dengue recorded in Region Six. Some 332 dengue cases have been recorded in the Region for April alone.
Addressing the deaths, Armogan stated that all four children from one household were infected with the virus, and one passed away. The Regional Chairman said he spoke with the mother of the 11 year old on Wednesday, and she said that that all four of her children were confirmed to have dengue.
“They went to the Skeldon Hospital and the hospital treated all four of them, and eventually one was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he succumbed. The [other child] – the case was transferred from the New Amsterdam Hospital to the Georgetown Hospital, and that particular child died at the Georgetown Hospital,” Armogan relayed.
Meanwhile, Jessica Rohit, an aunt of 11-year-old Lokesh Ibrahim, also known as Jayden, said when his mother took him to the Skeldon Hospital, he was given Panadol and sent away.
“On Saturday night, after 7:00 p.m., my cousin rushed both of her children—Jayden and his 6-year-old sister—to the Skeldon Hospital. Jayden was crying out in pain all over his body, and his sister was suffering from a high fever,” she said in a social media post.
“The doctor on duty gave Jayden just one Panadol, claimed he had no fever, and sent him home. No tests. No further examination. Only his sister was treated. The doctor also said she needed to run blood tests on the little girl but didn’t have the proper form, so they would need to return on Tuesday. Still concerned for Jayden’s health, my cousin brought him back to Skeldon Hospital on Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m.,” she recounted.
According to the aunt, a blood test was carried out on Tuesday, and it was confirmed that Jayden had dengue. He was admitted at the institution and subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
“Jayden’s condition worsened. He stopped responding and began to shiver. A nurse was called, and she said, “The fever got to his head.” Two more doctors came and tried to treat him—from his arms to his feet. After 10:00 p.m., the hospital decided to transfer Jayden to New Amsterdam Hospital. He arrived there around 12:00 midnight. The doctors there did their best, and told my cousin that Jayden came in a critical state. They said he was not breathing on his own and they needed to do more.”
Within three hours, according to Rohit, the child passed away.
“He died from a brain edema [swelling in the brain], blood in his lungs, and kidney failure—complications of severe dengue that might have been prevented had he been taken seriously when he first arrived at the hospital four days earlier,” she claimed.
Dengue fever is primarily spread through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Mosquitoes become infected when they bite an infected person, and can transmit the virus to other people through subsequent bites.
Armogan believes that more spraying to control the breathing of mosquitoes is required; a view Regional Health Officer, (RHO) Dr Vineshri Khirodhar, however, does not share.
“I want everyone to know we can’t fog every day. The fogging is done in rotation and if you fog a community every day, we will be causing intoxication for residents. We fog as the need arises. There is a schedule every 28 days where we are fogging, but what we are focusing on is the larviciding [the process of controlling mosquitoes by targeting their larval stage in breeding habitats]. It is more effective. You want to kill these mosquitoes before they hatch them, and the larviciding is very effective. This is done. It is very safe and done in a very safe manner. The chemical which we use to do the larviciding is not harmful to humans, and this method is more effective. I know the community is calling for fogging, but I just want to say we cannot fog the areas every single day. We fog as the need arises,” the RHO explained to the RDC.
She is imploring parents to take their children to the hospital if the child displays symptoms of fever or even a sensation that they are having joint pains.
She pointed out than many parents would start treating their children with medications that are contraindicated in the dengue.
“The mother was medicating the child with ibuprofen, that is contraindicated with dengue disease. This would have sped up the bleeding also, and would have caused internal bleeding, apart from the dengue itself. There are many types and different forms of dengue, but the one right now that is very severe, and it weakens the child’s immune system very quickly, is the NS1 dengue. When you have these cases, and you would not know, because you are home-treating the child with ibuprofen and pills, but you don’t know which form you’re dealing with. The child can come from school, and they are okay, and in a minute of half an hour to an hour, the child gets very ill, vomits and collapses. In many of these cases, these kids, we didn’t have a lot of time with them. When they come into the emergency, they are very ill-looking.”
Meanwhile, the health department has scheduled fortnightly television programs to sensitize the public on the issue. Additionally, fliers acquired from the Ministry of Health is being distributed in communities, the RHO told the RDC.
Armogan said that there is a need to have government 10-day part time workers assist in distributing whatever printed material there is. He also called on the health department to work with the education department, so that information can get to homes through the school system.
According to the Regional Chairman, the spread of dengue is across the region and not confined to any particular section of the region.
