A triple threat of COVID-19, dengue, and the flu are putting additional stress on Jamaica’s health care system, according to the Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton.
During a post-Cabinet press briefing on October 4, the minister addressed the challenges currently facing the sector.
He pointed out that while COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, the positivity rate on the island is above 10 percent which is relatively high.
Tufton said that patients who test positive for COVID-19, along with dengue patients and those who present with extreme flu symptoms will be a challenge for public emergency medical facilities.
“In normal times we have overcrowding in our hospitals, particularly those in the urban centers … so when you have a spike in a particular area, there is almost automatically going to be a build-up,” said Tufton.
“That triple threat is real, not a need for alarm but it is something to know and to be able to respond to,” said Tufton.
The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie also urged Jamaicans not to rush to emergency public health facilities for minor flu-like symptoms.
“At this time we are not only seeing an overload from persons with viral illnesses, but this time of the year we tend to have more persons coming in with uncontrolled non-communicable diseases and the complications thereof.
“We would have started to see the reports that we are experiencing overcrowding, especially in our emergency departments, and that is why the appeal that we also need to visit our primary care centers to take off some of that load,” said Bisasor-McKenzie.
Dengue outbreak likely to last until 2024
As for dengue, Tufton said since the outbreak was declared, the ministry began its dengue outbreak mitigation plan, which includes a public education campaign on dengue, clinical management, destroying mosquito breeding sites (primarily located in the homes of residents), and community fogging.
The number of presumed, confirmed, and suspected cases of dengue has now increased to 1117: of that number, 160 are confirmed cases.
The dominant strain of the virus is dengue type 2, which hasn’t been detected on the island since 2010. Dr. Tufton explained that because the strain hasn’t been found on the island in over a decade, the younger population is more vulnerable to that strain of dengue.
Read more:
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The health ministry says the 5 –14 age cohort continues to be the most affected.
As of October 2, children under the age of 18 years are being treated for free at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Chris Tufton said previously that the measure is in response to the dengue outbreak, which has caused an influx of cases at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston.
So far one dengue-related death has been confirmed, with three other deaths suspected to be from the infection.
Tufton said he is anticipating that the dengue outbreak will last through to the end of the year, and likely end in the first quarter of 2024.
