Two Laboratory Confirmed Cases of Dengue Fever on Montserrat

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday announced that there are at least two laboratory confirmed cases of the dengue fever on Montserrat.

Confirmation of this was given by Epidemiologist within the Ministry Dr Dorothea Hazel.

The Ministry in a statement on Social Media said its response mechanism is now in gear.

As part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus, the Ministry says, the Vector Control Team has increased inspections to seek and destroy mosquito larvae in any observed breeding sites, the team has commenced targeted fogging to eliminate and reduce the population of adult mosquitoes and additional resources are being mobilized to conduct island-wide fogging which is scheduled to commence in the next 48 hours.

As it relates to efforts to identify and manage cases, the Ministry says the front line clinical staff are on the alert for any person(s) presenting with signs and symptoms of dengue fever, enough ‘bed nets’ have been secured to serve all the beds at the hospital and Margetson Memorial Home for the elderly – so that persons who require hospitalization for severe dengue symptoms may be cared for without putting other patients and staff at increased risk and medication to treat the complaints associated with dengue (e.g. fever, headache, muscle and joint pains) are available.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease which is spread through the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito.