By Leandra Rolle

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH officials confirmed the country’s first dengue fever death since the virus’ re-emergence this year - a nine-year-old boy who died after showing symptoms of the disease.

 “He would’ve presented with a viral type illness but did not continue with the care that was provided and unfortunately, he succumbed to the illness,” Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan said during a press conference at the Ministry of Health yesterday.

 “We later got the results back and we know that it was dengue.”

 Dr McMillan could not say why the child did not continue with his treatment.

 “It could’ve been that they did not come back to the facility or they didn’t take the medications, but I’m saying to you that is what we would’ve been provided with,” she said.

 The revelation came as health officials confirmed the country is experiencing an outbreak of dengue fever, with 88 cases and five hospitalizations confirmed to date.

 The bulk of the cases - 80 - are in New Providence, while six cases are in Grand Bahama.

 Health officials also confirmed one case each in Exuma and the Berry Islands, all of whom had a history of travel from New Providence.

 State Minister for Environment Zane Lightbourne said teams will be deployed to the Family Islands this week to start fogging exercises as part of its mosquito control programme.

 Meanwhile, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said all hospitals and clinics are on high alert as “we begin to up our game in our fight against dengue.”

 “Our teams have been educated and trained to look for cases that are potentially dengue cases, activate immediately, go into the necessary medical history and communicate directly with our surveillance unit who works very closely with the department of environmental health,” Dr Darville added.

 “So, it’s a system that incorporates many healthcare professionals at the Family Island clinics at our hospitals as well as in the community to alert through education.”

 He also noted the ministry is not considering bringing in dengue vaccines because dengue fever is not an endemic disease in The Bahamas.

 “We reached out to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to give us advice on the possibility of vaccines and based on what’s being discussed, we believe not being an endemic area sort of excludes The Bahamas from a national vaccination programme for dengue,” Dr Darville said.

 Most people diagnosed with dengue fever have type three of the virus - a form of the disease that could cause severe illness for people who previously had the first two serotypes of virus.

 “Some persons on examination and investigation when the team reaches out to them, they have confirmed that they did actually have dengue before. It’s part of the information that we get,” said Dr Felicia Balfour Greenslade, head of the ministry’s national communicable disease surveillance unit.

 “But we all know that it’s a new serotype and obviously, it was brought into the country and was just a bit insidious until persons started to present.”

 Dengue fever causes severe flu-like illness and sometimes a potentially lethal complication called dengue haemorrhagic fever.

 Other symptoms can include headache, muscle and joint pains and rash.

 There is no specific treatment for dengue fever, but people with the virus are advised not to self-medicate.