From our correspondent
ORANJESTAD – The US Consulate in Curacao incorrectly reported a dengue outbreak in Aruba. The Department of Public Health (DVG) doubts the validity of this.
“We believe it is important to correct this news. There are said to be outbreaks of dengue fever in Aruba, Sint Maarten, Curaçao, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. Regarding Aruba, this information is incorrect,” the government agency said.
DVG is responsible, among other things, for the surveillance of infectious diseases and mosquito-borne diseases. Once a very large number of cases are identified by general practitioners or laboratories, DVG will inform the population of Aruba. However, there is currently no dengue outbreak in Aruba.
The government asserts that dengue fever is endemic and dengue cases occur throughout the year. These cases are being monitored along with the number of dengue cases in the region and also globally. This makes it possible to determine if and where the number of dengue cases is increasing rapidly.
The World Health Organization informed all member states last July that dengue could become a problem worldwide due to climate change. This announcement was a reason for Aruba to monitor dengue fever more closely.
Data from DVG's Department of Epidemiology shows that 13 tests for dengue were conducted in Aruba in December. The results of those tests were that six people did not have dengue fever and two people had “probable” dengue fever. Six tests have been conducted so far this year. Two of those tests came back positive, and these patients had dengue fever. The results of two tests were negative, and the results of the other two tests are still awaited. “We don't see a big difference in the numbers and we don't see any reason to talk about an outbreak,” says DVG.
The Mosquito and Yellow Fever Control Department (GMKB) is still conducting investigations and its data does not show a dengue outbreak. DVG also asked the hospital whether any patient with dengue had been admitted, but that was not the case.
Anyone who wants to follow DVG can do so via the Facebook page or website www.dvg.aw.
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