Look out for Type III Dengue

said the Zika virus of which there were 704 confirmed cases.

seemed to be slowing down because once bitten by the Aedes Egypti mosquito and contracted the virus, the body built up an immunity against it. “So we would take a huge hit in 2016 with thousands of people getting Zika and who would now be immunised. The same thing with dengue, the dengue numbers are dropping. However.

there are three types of dengue.

Type I, Type II and Type III. “We have to be on the lookout next year for dengue Type III because we have not had an explosion in dengue Type III in about seven to eight years, and that type tends to come on a seven or eight year cycle,” he said. He added: “After having dealt with Zika this year, we will have to deal with dengue Type III next year. Dengue Type III is a haemorrhagic type dengue and you could end up in the hospital bleeding and end up needing a blood transfusion. “That is why I am not going to let up on the ridding of the Aedes Egypti mosquito.

and we are going to intensify and charge more people for unkempt lots. This is not a fight against Zika, it is a fight against the Aedes Egypti mosquito which carries yellow fever, ChikV and three types of dengue.” Of the 704 cases of Zika, 451 were pregnant women. Deyalsingh said the reason why that number was skewed was because they targeted different groups. “When Zika exploded no country in the world had the capability to test everyone who presented with Zika. We are not going to run a US$500 test on everyone who presence with Zika because the pregnant women are the most susceptible group because of microcephaly. That is why the number of pregnant women were such a high number of confirmed cases,” Deyalsingh said. On the issue of introducing genetically modified mosquitoes such as those to be released in Brazil and Colombia to combat the Aedes Egypti to TT, the minister said this was something that he would have to work through with Pan American Health Organisation. “A lot of research is out there that talked about the ineffectiveness and latent danger bringing genetically modified mosquitoes into our environment. It is terribly expensive and there are unknown risks in bringing in a genetically modified.

altered mutant that could possible create a greater problem than the one we are trying to solve. That is one band wagon I am not going to jump on unless I was absolutely convinced that it is cost effective and that it is safe,” Deyalsingh said. The minister also stated that he has not received the results from PAHO on whether the baby born with microcephaly just over one month ago had contracted because of the Zika virus, or another medical reason.