Strong surveillance system to monitor Zika during pregnancy – Dr Anthony

Shadow Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has stated that the Government needed a strong surveillance system to monitor Zika during pregnancy given the Virus’s link to microcephaly or it would have to deal with a serious public health crisis.

In light of four reported cases of microcephaly in Guyana, and reports of persons complaining of mosquito “infestations” in the rural areas, Dr Anthony said it was crucial to reduce the population of the mosquito which carries the Zika and other viruses, including dengue and Chikungunya.

He explained that there were standardised ways to limit the spread of the mosquito in question the Aedes Aegypti – specifically through aggressive campaigning to remove the breeding sites and to kill the mosquito at its different stages.

“If you don’t get them at that developmental stage, then when they are grown and flying around the place you can use the fogging,” he said, adding that it was pertinent to carry out these entomological studies to know what was the mosquito density in particular areas and when “you figure that out, you can know what strategy to develop”.

With the advancement of genetically modified mosquitoes, Dr Anthony said the population could be reduced by stopping the mosquitoes from reproducing. Currently, he said, genetically modified mosquitoes are being used in Brazil, Jamaica and the US.

“We need to explore what it will cost and try it because in other countries it has been successful,” he suggested, noting that while the Vector Control Services has been known to periodically carry out fogging exercises, there was evidence to suggest that it was not enough.

“…when you go into the rural areas, the people are complaining about mosquito infestation so obviously a lot more can be done,” he said.

Dr Anthony opined that the Government did not know the number of Zika cases present in Guyana since it was often confused, given the similar symptoms, with Dengue and Chikungunya, which leads to misdiagnosis.

“I don’t think we have a very strong surveillance system in place to detect Zika in pregnancy and we might have more microcephaly cases because of that. We don’t want that to happen…so if the pregnant woman has symptoms of Zika or any of its cousins, then we should monitor them closely. We should be handing out condoms to pregnant women because they are the population that is at that the greatest risk,” he said.

The last report the Public Health Ministry released on Zika indicated that there were 37 confirmed cases. However, because of its similarity with the other two viruses, there may be more cases.

Zika emergency ends

Meanwhile, although it warns that the mosquito-borne Zika Virus still poses an enduring threat, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an end to the Zika emergency.

A WHO panel composed of independent experts said in a statement that while Zika and associated consequences remained a significant enduring public health challenge requiring intense action, it no longer represented an emergency.

However, the Organisation’s emergency committee, which had declared an international public health emergency earlier in the year, said the Virus still represented “a highly significant and a long-term problem”.

The Zika Virus was labelled a major health threat after it was discovered that it can cause microcephaly and other neurological disorders in infants and adults.

WHO Director General, Dr Margaret Chan accepted the recommendations and declared an end to the emergency.

According to the Chairman of the emergency committee, Dr David Heymann, the committee has agreed that Zika must now be managed within the WHO as are other very important infectious diseases and other threats.

Latin America and the Caribbean have approximately 500 million persons living in areas at risk for transmission of Zika Virus.