Dengue cases continue to rise, deaths too

Monique Grange, Assistant News Editor
The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre

The Ministry of Health is warning members of the public to practice proper waste disposal as the number of suspected cases of dengue fever continues to rise.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael Coombs says the latest figures indicate that 1,400 persons have now contracted the disease.

This is up from the 1,215 cases which were reported up to September 29.

Speaking this morning on Independent Talk on Power 106, Coombs said there are now six suspected deaths as a result of the viral disease but only one has been confirmed by an autopsy.

He says it’s critical that residents rid their homes of anything that has the potential to become a breeding site for mosquitoes.

Coombs says a special outreach programme which was conducted in 63 communities in Kingston and St Andrew found that a large percentage of the homes had breeding sites for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which carries the virus.

radio@gleanerjm.com