The Ministry of Health, Wellness, and Elderly Affairs is placing a special focus on vector-borne diseases in order to curb its spread.
Vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases, causing more than 700, 000 deaths annually; it is also a public health burden, the Ministry said at a press conference on Monday.
Monday May 23 marked the commencement of Vector Awareness Week.
“This annual week of observance is aimed at increasing awareness of vectors and vector-borne diseases on island and (is) also (being held) to encourage clean and healthy environments to decrease the incidents of vector-borne diseases amongst our population. The COVID-19 pandemic and many other public health emergencies have continued to humble us as a society as we lament on our susceptibility to many infectious disease threats,” Charletta Charles-Leon, an environmental health officer in the Ministry, said.
Thus, Charles-Leon added, “community cooperation and collaboration is essential to detect and alert response to outbreaks and manage the risk of emerging diseases such as Dengue, Zika and Leptospirosis.”
According to National Epidemiologist Dr. Michelle Francois, Dengue is probably the most prevalent vector-borne disease. And whilst cases are detected throughout the year, they tend to peak during the rainy season.
“Unfortunately, the burden of (vector-borne) diseases is highest in tropical and sub-tropical areas such as ours and over the last two decades the world has seen an increase in emerging and reemerging vector-borne diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and West Nile virus. Dengue is endemic to Saint Lucia and is probably the most prevalent arboviral disease locally,” she said.
The Ministry has managed several outbreaks of dengue fever, the most recent and largest being in 2020, where approximately 1,321 cases were diagnosed with an incident rate of 729 per 100,000. Four deaths were recorded during this outbreak.
“By our estimation this is a significant underreporting of cases. This number was unprecedented as previous outbreaks were calculated with ‘incidents’ of 448 and 165 per 100,000 in 2011 and 2013 respectively,” Francois said.
“In 2014 Saint Lucia witnessed the introduction of the new and emerging Chikungunya virus. That year the island recorded 238 confirmed cases. Since then cases have been confirmed sporadically throughout the years. The Zika virus (which was) also new and emerging at the time was first diagnosed in Saint Lucia in 2016 where a total of 65 cases were confirmed. Since then, we have not recorded additional cases although testing is ongoing. Leptospirosis is endemic (to Saint Lucia) and the Ministry of Health has recorded approximately 170 confirmed cases over the past 10 years,” she added.
Cases of malaria are also detected locally annually, though it is not endemic to the country. These cases are only found when persons visit the island, the epidemiologist explained.
Most vector borne diseases cannot be transmitted directly among humans and can be controlled through protective measures and community mobilization. In the case of mosquito borne diseases the following can be done, Francois said:
– Eliminate breeding sites in and around homes. This can be done by discarding all open containers and stagnant water on a regular basis.
– Use of insect repellent which may be applied directly to the skin, clothing, or mosquito nets.
– Wearing of long-sleeved shirts and pants especially during peak hours of mosquito activity.
–To prevent leptospirosis: use protective footwear and clothing when exposed to flood waters, stagnant water, and animal farm water run-off.
The Ministry is encouraging persons to join the fight to reduce the spread of vector-borne diseases.
“We try to stress on personal responsibility. (Don’t) wait for the Ministry of Health to take an initiative when (there is) an issue within the community; take up the initiative yourself (and) come together as a community and do something to reduce the number of mosquitos, rats or improve sanitation,” the environmental health officer said.
This year Vector Awareness Week is being observed under the theme “together let us destroy vectors for better health.”