Dengue

Is Anguilla at risk of a dengue Epidemic? Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that causes severe flu-like illness. Sometimes it causes a lethal complication called dengue haemorrhagic fever. That‘s the worst form of dengue. All dengue is very painful and dangerous. It is also known as ‘break-bone fever’, for good reason. There is no known treatment for the virus itself. That's not to say that dengue is untreatable. They treat the symptoms. They can reduce the pain with analgesics, etc. Appropriate medical care can save the life of a patient. But, you have to know that the possibility of dengue exists in the community to begin to take precautions.

As The Anguillian Newspaper warned us last year:

Persons suspected of having dengue fever must see a doctor at once. As Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever is a deadly disease, early diagnosis and treatment can save lives. Unless proper treatment is given promptly, the patient may go into shock and die.



The characteristics of Dengue Fever/Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever are

• Abrupt onset of high fever.

• Severe frontal headaches.

• Pain behind the eyes which worsens with eye movement.

• Muscle and joint pains.

• Loss of sense of taste and appetite.

• Measles-like rash over chest and upper limbs.

• Nausea and vomiting.

• Severe and continuous stomach pains.

• Bleeding from nose, mouth, gums and skin bruising.

The virus is widespread, if not epidemic in the islands around us. It is in the BVI. It has long been a health problem this year in nearby St Maarten/St Martin.

Now, I read in the Anguillian Newspaper that the Anguillian public health authorities are spraying for mosquitoes. They warn us to shut our windows against the fogging. But, they don’t indicate why they are fogging, or what exactly the target is.

There are no known requirements for reporting the statistics on the incidence of dengue. No person in authority will admit to the prevalence of dengue in Anguilla.

Dengue is now in Anguilla? Shusssh! That is a national secret. We are not supposed to know about it. We are certainly not allowed to talk about it. It might damage the tourist industry. Anyone who even discusses dengue in Anguilla is betraying our tourist industry. And, the tourist industry is the real and only Anguilla, isn’t it? So, any discussion amounts to betraying Anguilla.

How widespread in Anguilla will dengue have to become before it becomes a dengue epidemic? Should we even be told that dengue is a problem that already exists in Anguilla?