Trinidad and Tobago to establish Early Dengue Screening Centre amid rising cases

Trinidad and Tobago: The Ministry of Health of Trinidad and Tobago has come up with a new initiative to combat the rising Dengue cases in the island nation.

The health ministry is set to launch a new Adult Dengue Early Screening Centre at Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility.

According to the information, the screening centre will officially open on 12th August and will work to detect Dengue at an early stage. The centre will be open to the public from 8 am to 6 pm.

This initiative by the Ministry of Health is being launched collaboratively with the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA).

The health authorities are urging patients suffering from high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, and joint or muscle pain to immediately visit the centers.

In response to this launch, the CEO of NCRHA, Davilyn Thomas, stated that, “The southwest region is facing the most hike in dengue cases and certainly more deaths. This rise is the reason that we chose Couva Hospital for this project.”

“A dedicated center for screening would lay off the burden from the emergency department,” he added.

Thomas further noted that, the screening centre is a necessity to combat the disease, if considered the conservative and non-conservative possibilities.

“It became clearer that we needed to do some screening and focus on alleviating a lot of the normal emergency departments from the burden of some of that screening,” Thomas added

Notably, the screening centre will also provide the residents with the opportunity to speak to the nursing department of NCRHA in order to avail some prevention tips and education. The locals in the area can contact the screening centre at 226-4263.

Apparently, Trinidad and Tobago have so far recorded 712 laboratory cases of Dengue, and 8 deaths have been confirmed. The health ministry is constantly requesting the citizens to take mandatory precautions in order to prevent the disease from spreading.

The Ministry stated that the elimination of breeding sites of Aedes Species mosquito is the most effective in prevention of the disease.

Disposing of unwanted articles, prevent water from clogging and regular cleaning of water tanks, barrels and drums are some of the major precautions to be taken.

Apart from this, the health ministry that emphasized that lawn grasses should be cut down properly, whereas drains and gutters should also be cleared regularly in order to have a free flow of water.