Persons with Mild Dengue Symptoms Urged to Visit Health Centre

With some hospitals facing overcrowding due to the dengue outbreak, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, is again imploring persons with mild dengue symptoms not to rush to the emergency departments but to visit their community health centre instead.

Mild symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, nausea and rash.

“These can be managed at home, or you can seek care in the primary-care services,” the CMO said while addressing a recent press conference at the offices of the Ministry of Health and Wellness in New Kingston.

Individuals who are infected with dengue for the second time are at greater risk of severe symptoms of the virus, and it is advisable that they get medical care right away.

The severe symptoms often come on after the fever has gone away and include severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, rapid breathing, bleeding gums or nose, fatigue, restlessness, blood in vomit or stool, being very thirsty, pale and cold skin, and feeling weak.

Severe dengue can result in organ failure as well as bleeding (haemorrhage) and severe fluid depletion that can lead to shock and death.

The CMO commended the teams at the various health facilities, who are “working diligently” to manage the outbreak.

The CMO reported that due to the upgraded capacity of the National Public Health Laboratory, the Ministry is able to get specimen results within 48 hours as opposed to the 2019 outbreak when the country had to wait for days to get results from overseas.

Of note, too, Dr. Bisasor-McKenzie said, people are heeding the message from the health professionals, as “more persons are coming in with early warning signs to hospitals”.

“That is good, because what we are seeing this year are less deaths than we had seen before. It means that persons are receiving the message, that when they detect early warning signs, you must seek medical advice,” she said.

Persons experiencing fever, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, bleeding under the skin (petechial rash), feeling very weak, or getting confused, are advised to seek immediate medical attention.

Persons are asked to play their part in ensuring that the dengue cases are minimised by monitoring water storage containers for mosquito breeding, keeping surroundings free of debris, destroying or treating potential mosquito breeding sites, wearing protective clothing and using a DEET-containing mosquito repellant.