MORE than 50 per cent of the notifications of the Zika Virus received by the Ministry of Health, up to May 29, were from the parishes of Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine.

Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton says the ministry has received reports of 2,166 notifications for Zika, of which 1,273 are from the three parishes. However, only 1,519 fit the case definition for Zika and were classified as “suspected Zika fever”.

He said that Kingston and St Andrew had 653 notifications, while St Catherine had the other 620.

In a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Dr Tufton said that the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for the transmission of the Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue viruses, is at high levels across the island.

“As we have been pointing out, we estimate that the number of confirmed cases is just a small portion of what is actually the reality, in terms of the persons who could possibly be infected,” he stated.

He said that the World Health Organisation indicates that as much as 70 per cent of the population of a country may be infected over time. However, only one out of four of the infected people will have symptoms; only up to 50 per cent of symptomatic people may be sick enough to need to see a doctor; and still fewer of those infected who visit the doctor will have their blood taken in order to confirm Zika virus infection. He added that, of those who are ill, only about 1 out of a thousand may have severe symptoms.

“I have been personally hearing reports of several Jamaicans presenting with a rash, suspected to be Zika, and I am sure my parliamentary colleagues know of constituents who have been affected, especially those in Kingston, St Catherine, Westmoreland and Clarendon,” Tufton said.

He stated that, of the 787 samples which were tested, 408 results have been received of which 21 were positive for Zika virus. Two of the 21 confirmed cases are pregnant women who are being continuously monitored.

He said that the two main possible outcomes of Zika that are of concern at this time are microcephaly and Acute Flaccid Paralysis, under which Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) falls.

“So far, we have had no confirmed case of Microcephaly or GBS linked to Zika virus. We have had one case of microcephaly reported, which was investigated and found to be negative for Zika,” he told the House.

“We are currently managing seven cases of GBS — three at the Spanish Town Hospital, three at the Kingston Public Hospital, and one at the University Hospital of the West Indies. Results, as at June 1, showed that the patient at UHWI and two of the patients at Spanish Town Hospital are Zika negative.

“Since the start of the year, we have been actively searching for cases of GBS and we have so far investigated 13, six of which also tested negative for Zika virus infection. I must point out, however, that a negative Zika test does not absolutely rule out Zika association due to the short window of three to five days for testing,” he said.

He said that his ministry has been preparing the sector for any increase in these severe forms of the illness, explaining that the health practitioners in the public and private sector have been informed and the ministry has been working very closely with them, and that clinical guidelines have been provided and are available on its website.

He said that the ministry has in stock adequate supplies of the requisite medication to appropriately treat all forms of Zika manifestation, and is preparing its Intensive Care Units and High Dependency areas at hospitals.

“We will be getting additional ventilators, and will procure more and make repairs to others which are not presently functioning. We are using our existing systems, under the very successful Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programme, to monitor pregnant women and their babies in our clinics,” he added.

The GBS is an uncommon sickness of the nervous system, in which a person’s own immune system damages the nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and, sometimes, paralysis.

The Brazilian Ministry of Health has reported an increased number of people who have been infected with Zika virus who also have GBS. GBS is very likely triggered by Zika in a small proportion of infections, much as it is after a variety of other infections.

The US Center for Disease Control is investigating the link between Zika and GBS.