Chikungunya may have run its course
(CNS): A month into 2015 there have been no new cases of chikungunya virus in the Cayman Islands, leaving health officials to believe the virus may have run its course. Although some blood samples from patients suspected of having contracted the virus locally were sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in January, none tested positive.
“There have been only three suspected cases per week during the past three weeks,” said the Medical Officer of Health, Dr Kiran Kumar, who urged the public to help keep things that way.
With the end of the rainy season and the anti-mosquito measures by the public and the Mosquito Research and Control Unit, it is hoped that Cayman can stay free of chikungunya this year.
The total number of confirmed cases in Cayman last year was 44, though there may have been an additional 29 possible cases in patients who had travelled to endemic areas but who were not tested. But it seems that the regional outbreak is also now on the decline, with a decrease in the number of cases now being reported to the CARPHA.
Meanwhile, there have been no new confirmed cases of dengue fever in Cayman since November, with all patients suspected of having chikungunya also being tested for that mosquito-borne disease.
Category: Health
Not true. I had it in January and I did not travel.
The Aedes Aegypti mosquito does not breed in swamps affected by seasons – it is a domesticated mosquito that feeds on human blood meals around the human habitat, and it is settled here in Cayman. Any relative dryness in the swamp doesn’t matter Dr Kumar. All it takes is one infected traveller returning to Cayman with the virus to start a new cycle in a neighborhood with a resident vector population of Aedes Aegypti. This can happen at any time in the year. Let’s hope it doesn’t, but let’s not give false assurances either.
Ebola is over also and thank goodness we have a 5 million dollar tent in case it happens again
we so need the lol button. Heck we need a lmbo for this one.
Ebola is only over in the media, try digging and perhaps research a bit more and you will see that death toll is now 9,000 and this week saw a rise in new reported cases.