HEALTH Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson is again at the centre of another health care maelstrom. It was not too long ago that the embattled minister found himself in the middle of a “vexing vortex” as controversy swirled about his mishandling of the dreaded and deadly CHIKV epidemic. Poor Maas Fenton, he was definitely not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has been under all sorts of pressure; he might just have to steam down two red snappers with three dozen okra and a few crackers in an effort to rebuild his stamina!

First, he is facing the pressure of an uphill battle to retain the St Thomas Eastern seat. My good friend and candidate of choice to become Member of Parliament for St Thomas Eastern, Delano “Chatty Boo” Seiveright, is doing an excellent job in the constituency. Delano is fast becoming a formidable force for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and if he continues to keep up the pressure on Fenton, he may just win that seat. Never mind Fergie’s bravado as a seasoned politician, one has to have “lion heart” to make it in Jamaican politics.

Secondly, Fergie is facing the pressure of having to lead a ‘super’ ministry, where the challenges are mountain high, but resources are as scare as St Vincent yam. The Ministry of Health is buckling under tremendous pressure from the strictures of the current International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic reform programme. Simply put, “things nuh look pretty at all”.

Ferguson’s political opponents are now calling for his head amidst an outbreak of the Klebsiella bacteria and the Serratia infection at the neonatal intensive care units at the University Hospital of the West Indies and the Cornwall Regional Hospital. The political bloodhounds are ready to slash his jugular and that of the People’s National Party (PNP) on the cusp of that party’s announcement of a general election in which it intends to elevate its political bona fides as the party that pulled Jamaica from economic crisis to steady recovery.

In addition, a misleading headline of one online news source has not made it any easier for Minister Ferguson either. As the news entity, known for sensational journalism and hype reporting, puts it, ‘Outbreak of ‘Mystery Bug’ kills 18 babies in hospitals across Jamaica’. Reasonable persons have drawn the inference that the “mystery bug” has not only killed 18 babies, but is also prevalent across Jamaica. Truth is, while there have been 18 confirmed deaths so far, there has not been any widespread reporting of the bacteria or infection at “hospitals across Jamaica” as the banner implies. That notwithstanding, the fact that the Klebsiella bacteria and the Serratia infection have been identified as cause of death in 18 child-related cases, the news warrants swift attention from the State.

As if the aim of this news entity — under the guise of public interest reporting — to create panic was inadequate, Dr Ferguson single-handedly upped the ante and set off a “five-alarm fire” of his own. By Dr Ferguson’s own admission at the Jamaica House press conference last Tuesday that he knew nothing about the outbreaks of the Klebsiella bacteria and the Serratia infections prior to Friday, October 16, 2015, he successfully painted himself as the consummate “minister know little”.

Unwittingly, or not, Dr Ferguson generously assisted in propagating speculations that Government is part of a grand conspiracy to cover up the outbreaks of this “mystery bug” that has killed 18 babies. To begin with, while the initial reporting of this “mystery bug” story met the criteria of breaking news, it exposed the extent to which some news organisations will go to deny the public objective and complete news reporting.

Let us examine the “mystery bug” descriptor; even as we assume purity of intention on the part of the news reporter, whose job it is to keep the public informed. In other words, let us give the news organisation the benefit of the doubt by accepting that its use of the phrase “mystery bug” was because it genuinely did not know what was killing the babies. For, as we know, “mystery” speaks to anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown. And “bug” is usually classified as “a germ or micro-organism especially when it causes disease; [or] any of several insects; or an unspecified or non-specific sickness”. As my late grandmother was wont to say, whenever she sensed hidden motives, “Mi son, if you see a donkey atop a light post, chances are it did not get there by itself.” Obviously, and for whatever reason, someone purposefully leaked the story of the outbreaks to sections of the media. For while we must encourage whistle-blowers and support the inherent altruistic value in whistle-blowing, we must also resist the urge of shouting fire in a crowded cinema.

Though unacceptable within the Jamaican context, and definitely frightening, there is nothing new or mysterious about the Klebsiella bacteria. After all, the bacteria is present in the human intestines where they do not cause disease. The BBC carried a report on March 7, 2014 in which it reported that 16 people had died in Manchester, England, in the past four years from infection caused by the Klebsiella bacteria. Online posting on the US Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) website provides sufficient information about the bacteria. According to the CDC, “To get a Klebsiella infection, a person must be exposed to the bacteria which must enter the respiratory (breathing) tract to cause pneumonia or the blood to cause a bloodstream infection.”

Dr Kevin Harvey is correct about the likelihood of the Klebsiella bacteria in certain health facilities, such as intensive care units where premature babies are cared for until they attain proper breathing levels. According to the CDC, “In health care settings, Klebsiella bacteria can be spread through person-to-person contact, and in situations where patients are on ventilators (breathing machines) or have intravenous (vein) catheters or wounds caused by injury or surgery.” As a precautionary measure, health care workers must adhere to proper hand hygiene, wear gowns and gloves — not makeshift scandal bag gowns — and health care facilities must follow strict cleaning and sanitation procedures.

That aside, it was completely disconcerting to hear the minister of health tell Jamaicans that he knew nothing about the 42 reported cases of Klebsiella bacteria and the Serratia infection that claimed the lives of 18 newborns until two Fridays ago. If the minister is found to be lying about his knowledge of this crisis, then he must resign. If the minister is correct about being kept in the dark, and it is proved that senior advisors and technocrats were derelict in their duties and purposefully withheld pertinent information from him, then the minister must request and accept their immediate resignations.

If the minister’s account is correct, then something is seriously amiss about the entire handling of this serious public health issue. Are there connections between this latest revelation and the recent audit — details of which have not been shared with the Jamaican people? It is disgraceful for a minister to learn of the presence of such terrible infection and bacteria in the press and several months after the first incidents were reported. Without a doubt, I am sure that the ensuing e-mail that I am about to reference says a lot about the dysfunctional communication apparatus that exists at the Ministry of Health.

Like my late grandmother, I also accept that if I see a donkey atop a light post, chances are it did not get there by itself. It is within this context that I share the following. On August 8, 2015 at 9:24: 53 pm, I received an e-mail from an unknown source chronicling what he/she called the “Bomb shell account of Jamaica’s health care system as infectious diseases loom and shortage of critical care supplies worsen…” I responded to the sender with 20 questions because I was sceptical and concerned about:

(a) the unknown sender’s real motive,

(b) the veracity of the information,

(c) the obvious political motif that ran throughout the body of the e-mail,

(d) the credibility of the source it, and so on.

Assuming the source to be an employee in the health sector with an obvious political axe to grind, I proceeded to ask the e-mail sender questions such as:

1. Are you a medical doctor, registered nurse, or epidemiology consultant?

2. Do you know if this is the Ebola virus?

3. Can you or anyone else tell me the specific source(s) of these “infectious diseases”?

4. And, if so, what are the medical names?

5. Can you say if these infectious diseases emanated from the fire from the Riverton dump, or from the current water shortage, occasioned by the ongoing drought?

I am yet to receive answers to these, or the other questions.

Any way one looks at the ensuing imbroglio, one is bound to conclude that something is seriously troubling about the minister’s “I did not know” declaration. Minister Ferguson’s latest declaration brings into sharp focus issues concerning public health in general, but patient-doctor privilege and confidentiality in particular. It places renewed emphasis on a medical code of conduct and patients’ rights. One must now also have discussions on the relationship between the minister and senior medical personnel at the University Hospital of the West Indies and the Cornwall Regional Hospital. What are the reporting requirements of the department of epidemiology? What are the reporting requirements in the relationship between the minister and his senior teams in the ministry as well as at the various regional health authorities? Is it a case where the minister does not enjoy the support, confidence or respect of his support team and vice versa? Or are there just no reporting requirements?

The alleged vertical, horizontal and diagonal non-reporting of these serious bacteria and infections reveals a lack of co-ordination, structure and reporting synergies between the various medical teams, regional health authorities, and the Ministry of Health. Whatever the explanation, the fact is, it is not the first, but fourth outbreak of the Klebsiella bacteria and the Serratia, one each in July at the Cornwall Regional Hospital and the University Hospital with two other outbreaks in September at the same hospitals accounts for something significant.

One cannot help but ponder the relationship between the timing of the minister’s announcement and Dr Alfred Dawes’ sudden resignation as president of the Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA), and then wonder if one has anything to do with the other. Readers would recall that it was Dr Dawes, in his substantive capacity as president of the JMDA, who showed pictures and gave descriptions of the conditions in the public health system back in May of this year. In the final analysis, I wonder how much of this latest brouhaha is because of politics and how much is because of genuine concerns for the health and well-being of fellow Jamaicans. However it pans out, we should never forget the old adage, “If you see a donkey atop a light post, chances are it did not get there by itself.”

Burnscg@aol.com