Thirty-one citations have been issued to homeowners who have seven days to clean their surroundings of breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
In addition, ten notices have been given to homeowners in the St Andrew/St David district, 15 in Victoria, two in St Patrick and four in Nariva/Mayaro.
This was disclosed by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh at a news conference at the ministry’s headquarters at Queen’s Park East in Port of Spain to give an update on dengue in Trinidad and Tobago.
At the conference were Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram, technical director of Epidemiology Dr Avery Hinds, county medical officer of health for Caroni Dr Jeanine St Bernard and specialist medical officer of health for the Insect Vector Control Division (IVCD), Dr Osafo Fraser.
Deyalsingh sought to address Opposition MP Khadijah Ameen’s statement on Wednesday that the Government’s struggle to tackle the dengue problem was due to a lack of proper drainage and infrastructure.
“They (mosquitoes) don’t find a home in those mossy, green, dirty drains; source reduction is primarily a domestic issue because the mosquito needs a human to bite to continue their life cycle,” he said.
He reiterated that, “The fight against dengue is primarily in receptacles that contain clear stagnant water (for example) tyres, gutterings, flower pots, saucers, the vases inside your homes. All those flower pots you have on your front porch.”
And, therefore, he said citizens should place their focus on their responsibility to ensure that their surroundings are not conducive for breeding mosquitoes.
According to Deyalsingh, one bottle cap is capable of holding up to 1,000 mosquito eggs and a tyre could hold almost a million eggs.
He also warned people against buying chemicals to spray their surroundings for mosquitoes.
He said, “These irresponsible people and some corporations in an effort to gain political mileage are encouraging their burgesses to risk their lives by playing cheap politics by buying Malathion and not giving them protective gear.”
He said that under the IVCD of the Ministry of Health, such chemicals are used at an ultra-low volume.
“These things have to be titrated and calculated accurately to make sure that human health is not compromised but what you have is a particular corporation in South Trinidad led by their political directorate to see this as a political opportunity,” said Deyalsingh.
In response to the call for more spraying by various corporations over the past week, Deyalsingh said, “Over-spraying, as we keep saying years now, results in two things, those same families two years from now are going to spray and you know what is going to happen? The mosquitoes are going to stand up there and laugh at you because they would have built up resistance. You will destroy the ecosystem around your house, you will kill dragonflies, you will kill ladybugs, you will kill spiders, you will kill fish, you will kill birds and create an unknown ecological disaster.”
On the matter of how the IVCD’s resources were allocated, Fraser said, “Once there is a reported case suspected or confirmed, we will respond and that response is done per county. Each county has an IVCD office and that office is staffed with both people and (equipment) to respond to those cases.”
Hinds also reported that, to date, there are 229 cases of dengue infection and two dengue-related deaths recorded for Trinidad and Tobago.
Noting that data came from both public healthcare facilities and some private healthcare facilities, he called on private practitioners who did not routinely share the data to do so, especially with regard to dengue.
He said such information when reported with County Medical Offices will allow for the appropriate actions such as spraying to be taken to prevent the spread of dengue.
He said the existing data showed that three counties, Victoria, St Patrick and Caroni, have had the highest number of cases with St George East and West following behind.
Rachel Carter is a health and wellness expert dedicated to helping readers lead healthier lives. With a background in nutrition, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being.
