MONTEGO BAY, St James — St James has seen a drastic increase in its Aedes index, moving from 10 per cent in July to 17 per cent as of August, says the parish’s Chief Public Health Inspector Sherika Lewis.

Speaking on Thursday during the regular monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (SJMC), Lewis said this increase can be “attributed to major water shortage within the parish as well as an increase in water storage”.

The Aedes index refers to the percentage of premises or homes in a limited, well-defined space, where actual breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito is found and the total number of houses examined in that area.

The chief public health inspector noted that though the rainy conditions experienced in August slightly hampered the public health team’s efforts, they were able to continue their extensive measures to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito as they fight against the deadly dengue fever.

“For this period 3,742 premises were inspected and 644 were found to be positive for mosquito breeding. Ten thousand containers were inspected and 1,800 were found to be positive for mosquito breeding. We have increased fogging activities in our communities and as such, 16 communities have been fogged and 26 sessions were conducted,” Lewis said.

“A total of 47 schools were fogged and one other premises. Six tyre shops were visited during the period and all had active breeding. They were subsequently treated. We had some inclement weather that affected our output during the month; however, we continue to press on,” she added.

Lewis noted that, during the week of September 11, the St James Public Health Department will be doing fogging in the Richmond Hill, Flagstaff, Palmyra, Greenwood, and Whitehouse communities.

Providing an update on the drum cover distribution drive, which was launched by the public health team earlier in June of this year, Lewis said “93 drum covers were distributed during the month”.

The public health department had reported that a “majority of the communities attributing to this high index are communities with issues with water distribution, meaning that they store water in drums, buckets, and barrels outside”, she said.