No dengue epidemic

There is no dengue epidemic in South Trinidad, the Health Ministry said yesterday in response to concerns about the high number of suspected dengue cases being warded at the San Fernando General Hospital. To support its view, the Ministry referred to this year’s dengue statistics for 1997-2003 which showed a dramatic reduction in the incidence of dengue from 49.4 in 2002 to 4.6 this year. The Aedes aegypti index is now five, which the Ministry said is close to an international benchmark. Last year it was 12.6. The number of dengue cases to date is 757, whereas in 2002 there were 2,703 cases. “Every single statistic for dengue for 2003, including the incidence of dengue haemorrhagic fever, the number of suspected deaths, etc, is significantly reduced from previous years.” The Ministry said month by month figures showed a correlation between the reduction in the incidence for this year and the acquisition of new equipment in 2002.