Dengue outbreak cause for concern, says ministry |27 May 2016

Two hundred and twenty-two (222) cases of people contracting dengue have been reported since December 2015, the Ministry of Health has revealed.

Of this figure 138 are male and 84 female.

As such the ministry is urging everyone to take precautions, prevent themselves from getting bitten by mosquitoes and eliminate mosquito breeding areas around homes.

This was during a press conference organised in the minister’s meeting room at the Seychelles Hospital on Wednesday.

Present were the public health commissioner Dr Jude Gedeon; the director general for public health authority Dr Meggy Louange; the coordinator from the Division of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) Daniel Cetoupe; the medical public health authority entomologist Simon Julienne and SNR Medical Registrar Epistat Dr Jastin Bibi.

Dengue fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses. These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile and yellow fever. An estimated 390 million dengue infections occur worldwide each year, with about 96 million resulting in illness. Most cases occur in tropical areas of the world.

In Seychelles the number of cases is still rising rapidly and has so far shown no evidence of fading. For the month of May, 75 cases have been reported. Several measures have been put in place to combat this epidemic. Every region on Mahé is being affected, and more cases have been reported in the districts of English River, Anse Royale and Pointe Larue.

Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes infected with the dengue virus. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in their blood. It can’t be spread directly from one person to another person.

Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, may include: high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and skin rash.

However, serious problems can develop; these include dengue hemorrhagic fever, a rare complication characterised by high fever; damage to lymph and blood vessels; bleeding from the nose and gums; enlargement of the liver and failure of the circulatory system. The symptoms may progress to massive bleeding, shock, and death. Only two subtypes -- 1 & 2 -- are circulating in Seychelles.

Dr Gedeon stated that everyone should work together to eliminate mosquitoes and combat the dengue fever.

“Since last December we have had an outbreak of the dengue fever in Seychelles; it is quite an alarming situation that we are dealing with, and every week we are receiving a case of dengue fever. Such disease can lead to complicated health problems and even death. The prevention of dengue fever requires control or eradication of the mosquitoes carrying the virus that causes dengue,” he explained.

Already all partners are trying to eliminate the disease from spreading even more by fogging certain areas, and people who think they have contracted dengue fever should go to their clinic.

They can also fill in a form so that necessary arrangements can be made for their home premises to be fumigated.

To protect yourself against dengue fever the following precautions must be followed:

• use mosquito repellents;

• reduce mosquito population,

• get rid of places where mosquitoes can breed. (These include old tires, cans, or flower pots that collect rain).