Dengue: the downward trend of cases continues to Caribbean

Written by Sandeep Nehra

The dengue epidemic is stabilizing in Martinique, while the peak of the outbreak seems to have been reached in Guadeloupe in early August, according to the latest items posted Friday by the Institute of Health Surveillance (VS).

In Martinique (400,000 inhabitants), the epidemic is “always busy”, but a declining trend observed two weeks ago, the number of visits for dengue among GPs continued last week (3.400 cons 3600), as the last point of the Interregional Epidemiology (Wax) Antilles Guyane.

In contrast, the number of consultations in the emergency departments of hospitals continues to increase. This phenomenon could be partly related “to the growing concern within the population because of the significant media coverage of the epidemic”, according to the regional cell.

Since the epidemic began in late February, dengue has affected 32,600 patients in Martinique, 432 people have been hospitalized. Thirteen deaths related to dengue have been recorded. In Guadeloupe (401,000 inhabitants), the number of cases seen by GPs has declined over the past three weeks, respectively 2900 and 2,300 cases where the last two weeks of August.

The peak of the outbreak “seems to have been reached during the first week of August,” according to the cell region. The current level of the epidemic “remains the same as that achieved at the peak of the epidemic of 2007. Since the epidemic began in late 2009, 38,200 cases were reported in Guadeloupe, 5 deaths were directly or indirectly attributable to dengue.

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