There is a pretty good blog that tracks dengue activity in the carribean, over at WoodShedEnvironment. They are looking at the effects of environment and links between increased Dengue activity in the Carribean. Good Stuff!
ProMed is giving a lot of attention to Dengue and the new cases in the Carribean, lately.
However, the comments seem to indicate the cases in the Caymans are acquired in Jamaica or Nicaragua, both areas with known Dengue fever. Perhaps the virus hasn;t made it to the Caymans, yet. The Aedes mosquito is there, to carry the virus. Hopefully, the cases in the Caymans were acquired elsewhere, meaning the island is still safe. We’ll see…
I am now working on a story on the Caymans Doc concerning the possibility that the 3 Confirmed Cases who imported the Dengue virus into the Cayman Islands from Jamaica and Nicaragua have in fact triggered some autochthonous transmission.
Here is what I have found out: The Cayman Medical Officer of Health is saying that there are up to 22 persons with Suspected Dengue who have no travel history whatsoever to countries with Dengue. However, the total number of Suspected Cases as of November 05 stands at 31. This leaves a balance of 9 who may have imported the virus since the initial 3 persons were identified. I can only surmise Doc that the Cayman’s surveillance system is well tweaked (I can attest to that from first hand experience) and is thus able to finger persons who are importing the virus into Grand Cayman.
Anyhow, testing is ongoing.
By my math, 6 other results, apart from the 3 Confirmed Cases and 31 Suspected Cases under active investigation, have come back negative.
This does not prove local transmission, but that does not mean that the country is still “safe.”
Great response from the people who ought to know! Thanks for keeping me updated and I look forward to the new info, as it comes.
Again for anybody following this story or dengue activity in the carribean, visit: http://woodshedenvironment.wordpress.com/ for the up-to-date info and some knowledge behind the facts.