St James reports decline in Aedes index
St. James has seen a further decline in its
Aedes index, moving from nine per cent in late December to seven per cent as of
January 2020.
This has resulted from extensive measures
by the St. James Health Department to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito as
it continues to fight the dengue fever.
Speaking at the monthly meeting of the St.
James Municipal Corporation last Thursday (January 9), Assistant Chief Public
Health Inspector for St. James, Nadia Burgess, said the Department continues to
carry out morning and evening fogging activities across the parish.
Burgess further informed that 14 additional
task workers have been trained under the Task Worker Programme, which restarted
on January 2 and will run for 15 weeks until April 9. This will bring the total
number of task workers to 94.
Meanwhile, Acting Medical Officer of Health
for St James, Francine Phillips Kelly, informed the meeting that there has been
one confirmed dengue fever-related death in the parish since the outbreak of
the virus, and that some suspected cases of dengue-related deaths are being
investigated.
Phillips Kelly pointed out that the
department has intensified vector-control activities in urbanised communities
in the parish, noting that most suspected cases of the virus emerged from those
areas.
These communities include Mount Salem,
Catherine Hall and surrounding areas.
Phillips Kelly said that the vehicles that were recently handed over by the Ministry of Health and Wellness have been beneficial to the daily fogging in these communities.
— JIS