Barbados Sees No Deaths from Dengue Outbreak, Evidence of Slowdown; COVID-19 and Influenza Cases Increase

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has reported that there have been no deaths related to acute dengue in Barbados since the start of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne illness in November last year.

Furthemore, it said, there may be some early evidence that the outbreak is showing signs of slowing down while there have been increases in COVID-19 and influenza cases in recent weeks.

While there have been a number of hospitalisations, including some with severe dengue, health authorities said there were no deaths attributed to dengue for the period November to December 2023.

Up to the week ending December 26, 2023, increased reports of clinically suspected (2 105) and laboratory confirmed (277) cases of dengue fever have been recorded in Barbados compared to the same period in 2022, when there were 321 suspected cases.

The Type 2 dengue virus was the predominant virus during the last three months, followed by the Type 3 strain. The outbreak of dengue fever began in October 2023, intensified in November, and continued into December 2023.

The ministry also reported that respiratory illnesses have increased in the past four weeks, up to the week ending December 22, 2023. However, health officials have pointed out that cases have not reached the epidemic threshold.

Additionally, the ministry stated that levels of diagnosed COVID-19 showed a doubling of cases in the past week after eight weeks of very low levels, from four cases in the last four weeks to eight cases in the week ending December 22, 2023.

Influenza levels also continued to increase with the majority of the 312 influenza cases for 2023 occurring in the past eight to 12 weeks with increases in Influenza A H1N1(2009), Influenza A H3N2, and Influenza B.

No cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) have been recorded in Barbados despite its presence in tourism source markets.

The public is encouraged to practise stringent respiratory hygiene with hand washing, hand sanitising, and mask wearing by those with symptoms or those vulnerable to severe disease.

(BGIS)