Dengue worries rise in Spanish Town as 7-y-o dies

Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Residents of Old Habour Road, Spanish Town, St Catherine are appealing to the authorities to move quickly to contain the dengue spread in the parish.

Their concern has been heightened following the death of seven-year-old Gracie-Ann Harrison who is suspected to have had the virus.

Harrison lived at 60 Old Harbour Road, Spanish Town.

The grade-two student at the Horizon Park Primary school died at the Bustamante Hospital for Children on Sunday.

Wesley Brown, the grandfather of the deceased said, the community is infested with mosquitoes which have been breeding in stagnant water.

"This is a sad state as there is nowhere for the water to run," Brown said.

Pools of stagnant water with larvae were seen near the board house where Harrison lived with seven others.

"We need help urgently,” said a neighbour. “The mosquito ting a get worse each day and no help... it wicked."

At Harrison's Horizon Park Primary School, teachers and students were saddened by the incident.

"She was a loving, caring child that paid attention to her work in class, some of her classmates are sad while others don't understand,” said her teacher, Keneisha Byfield.

The St Catherine Health Department says the matter is being probed.

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