Public Health Minister Dr George Norton

–US citizen infected after travelling to Guyana

BY: DEVINA SAMAROO

A male student, 16, who resides in Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD), is Guyana’s second confirmed case of the dreaded mosquito-borne Zika Virus.

There were about 88 suspected cases of the infection in Guyana.

Public Health Minister Dr George Norton during a press conference on Monday disclosed that from the 88 suspected cases, 55 test results were returned which confirmed two cases, while the others were deemed negative.

The first case of the Zika Virus was recorded earlier in January in a woman, 27, who resided in Rose Hall, Berbice, and Covent Garden, EBD.

Speaking during the press conference was Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud, who explained that symptomatic treatment was administered to the patient who has since recovered and is already back in school.

He disclosed that the teenager had visited the interior regions more than a month prior to him displaying the symptoms of the virus which includes rashes, fever and conjunctivitis.

Dr Persaud also stated that the Vector Control Service continues to monitor the teenage and has already tested persons whom he has been in close contact with to ensure no one else was infected.

Commenting generally on the Zika situation in Guyana, the CMO explained that persons exhibiting symptoms of Zika would initially be tested for dengue fever and Chikungunya since the warning signs are similar. If those test results are negative, blood samples will be sent to neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago for testing of the Zika Virus. He added that this usually takes about seven days.

He pointed out however that symptoms of the Zika Virus can be very mild therefore, there may be relatively healthy persons who are infected and spreading the disease but they would just not be aware.

Moreover, Dr Persaud said the Vector Control Service will continue fogging particularly in areas with high mosquito index; alert health facilities are on the lookout for suspected cases; and will continue distributing nets to pregnant women.

He highlighted that most of the suspected cases of the Zika Virus are from Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Meanwhile, Ohio State has recorded two additional cases of the Zika Virus, one involving a Licking County man who was in Haiti and the other a woman who travelled from Guyana.

The woman who travelled from Guyana was identified as a Butler County woman.

Guyana has already been placed on the United States Centres for Disease Control (CDC) Zika Virus warning list.

The CDC cautioned pregnant women not to travel to Guyana, among other Zika-infected countries, since the virus is suspected to lead to severe birth defects.

Babies suffering from the condition have smaller than normal heads, preventing their brains from developing properly.

There is also a possibility that the Zika Virus can be sexually transmitted after one recorded case of such in Texas.

The Zika Virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry the Dengue, Yellow Fever and Chikungunya Viruses.

Health experts are unsure why the Virus – detected in Africa in 1947 but unknown in the Americas until last year – is spreading so rapidly in Brazil and neighbouring countries.

Brazil and Colombia are reportedly the worst-affected countries.