The Ministry of Public Health could declare a national alert because of the dengue outbreak, given the increase in the number of cases that have been reported in the last few days, bringing the total to 3,000, including 10 deaths, two of which occurred this last week. An average of eight cases a day are entering the Robert Reid Cabral Children’s Hospital, the Santo Socorro Hospital, the Luis Eduardo Aybar Hospital and the Maternity Hospital in Los Mina, all major public hospitals in greater Santo Domingo, and the situation is overwhelming their capacity. Dominican Medical Association president Amarilis Herrera told Diario Libre that two girls, one aged 10 and the other just 11 months old, died in the Los Mina Maternity Hospital on Monday 1 October.
The head of Epidemiology at the hospital, Jose Sechoerer, said that only one of the patients had died of dengue, and that the other patient died of septicemia. He said that so far this year only two minors have died. He said that 15 children were hospitalized and that over the last 10 months they have treated 102 patients, 71 of whom were positive, and these included the two deaths.
The director of the Robert Reid Cabral Hospital, Emilio Mena Castro, said that yesterday, Tuesday 2 October 18 children were being treated for dengue at the center. Nine children have died of the disease since January, he said, adding that in relation to the number of cases, these deaths represent barely 0.7%.
The CMD president called on the Ministry of Public Health to launch a massive public awareness campaign to inform the public about water handling and treatment to prevent these endemic diseases in the country.
The provinces with the most cases include the National District, Azua, Barahona, Duarte, Independencia, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Montecristi, Pedernales, Peravia and Puerto Plata.
While an infected person cannot spread the infection to others, they can be a source of dengue for the mosquitoes that go on to transmit the virus to other humans through their bite. The Aedes aegypti mosquito transmits the disease and bites during morning hours.
Typical dengue symptoms usually start with a fever within five to six days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Symptoms also include severe headaches, joint and muscle pain, nausea and vomiting, skin rash, bleeding from the nose, gums or under the skin, causing purplish bruises.
Dengue fever is diagnosed via a blood test to detect antibodies against the virus.
Dengue may be prevented by avoiding mosquito bites, eliminating pools of stagnant water that serve as mosquito breeding sites, not storing water in open containers (cover all water containers with lids), using screens on windows and doors, using long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks and shoes when outdoors, scrubbing and cleaning the rims of containers used for water, and covering overhead tanks to prevent access to mosquitoes.
Since Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day, special precautions should be taken during early morning hours before daybreak and at dusk.
There is no commercially available dengue vaccine.