Dengue Fever

KevinS

Senior Insider
ARS Guadeloupe, the Regional Health Agency, has published the following announcement regarding Dengue Fever on St Barth. A Google Translation follows:

[#Dengue #SBH]: Saint-Barthélemy passe en phase épidémique


Santé publique France
dénombre actuellement entre 30 et 40 nouveaux cas de Dengue chaque semaine à Saint-Barthélemy

soit une estimation totale de 552 personnes touchées depuis décembre 2019.


Face à la circulation toujours active des moustiques porteurs du virusla Préfet de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin
et l' ARS Guadeloupe
et la Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy Officiel ont validé la proposition du comité d’experts pour un passage en épidémie. Ainsi l’ARS déploient une campagne plus importante de communication et d’affichage des messages de prévention et de lutte dans les médias locaux et sur les réseaux sociaux.



Chacun peut aussi contribuer à lutter contre cette épidémie. Il suffit simplement d’adopter les bons gestes : se débarrasser des eaux stagnantes, retirer les encombrants ou coupelles susceptibles de constituer des gîtes, couvrir les citernes, utiliser des répulsifs, porter des vêtements longs et en cas de fièvre, consulter un médecin. Ceci car « la plupart du temps, le moustique qui vous pique est né chez vous ! »


L’objectif espéré de ces actions est de diminuer l’impact de la maladie sur la population et d’éviter la survenue de cas graves nécessitant une hospitalisation.


Pour plus d’informations, contactez l’antenne de l’ARS au : 0590 27 82 21

Google Translate:

[#Dengue #SBH]: Saint-Barthélemy is going into an epidemic phase

Public health France currently has between 30 and 40 new cases of Dengue every week in
Saint-Barthélemy i.e. a total estimate of 552 people affected since December 2019.

Faced with the still active circulation of mosquitoes carrying the virus Prefect of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin and the ARS Guadeloupe and the Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy Official validated the expert committee's proposal for an epidemic. The ARS is therefore deploying a larger campaign to communicate and display prevention and control messages in local media and on social networks.

Everyone can also help fight this epidemic. All you have to do is take the right steps: get rid of standing water, remove bulky items or dishes that could constitute deposits, cover the tanks, use repellents, wear long clothes and in case of fever, consult a doctor. This is because "most of the time, the mosquito that bites you was born at home!" "

The hoped-for objective of these actions is to reduce the impact of the disease on the population and to prevent the occurrence of serious cases requiring hospitalization.

For more information, contact the ARS branch on: 0590 27 82 21
 
I’m comfortable fighting Dengue on SBH, rather than Covid in FL. Neither is good, but at least on SBH I have supplies of DEET protecting me.
 
I’m comfortable fighting Dengue on SBH, rather than Covid in FL. Neither is good, but at least on SBH I have supplies of DEET protecting me.
:up: Mosquito Milk= Eau de Saint-Barth!! And you can order it in the USA as well! Every time I put it on, I feel like I am in SBH:D Discovered it on this amazing blog and still love it! Thank you to Kevin et al. for the heads up many years ago. I have bought it for all of my friends and family, too! (In the US it is called "Net Effect Roll On" btw. )
 
One product that we've found works *very* well (and even better than Deet products in my case) is Sawyer's Picaridin Insect Repellent. A few studies have been done showing that Picaridin is actually more effective than Deet, but it doesn't carry any of the potential neurological risks associated with long-term Deet use.

Here's a link to their website, but you can easily find it on Amazon or elsewhere online, too.

https://sawyer.com/products/picaridin-insect-repellent/

Before switching to this from Off, I used to get about 8-10 bites per week. After switching to this, I usually end a week in St. Barts with only 2-3 bites.
 
Agree Gary. We use the cream version over our sun tan lotion and it has been very effective. They sell single packets and we don't do to the island without it!
 
https://www.facebook.com/429097937129541/posts/3352051708167468/

My wife and I have been coming to St. Barts regularly since 1992. Covid was worrisome, but the recent spike in dengue cases is much more so. We are told by a friend who lives on the Island that the health authorities used to spray regularly for mosquito control (but do not now). To be gracious, Covid has been all-occupying, but the threat of dengue being on the rise is a very, very troublesome prospect, given its dire effects. That threat would be more likely than Covid to derail our plans to return to the Island—if anyone has ideas or wants to play off of this message to raise these concerns with local authorities who actually have the power to do something to attack the dengue case rise aggressively, it would be a real service to everyone, both residents and visitors.
 
This is a real problem-mosquitoes are dangerous for humans,no doubt about it.

I think another contributing factor is that because of the many unoccupied rental villas, owners are not spraying the properties as they used to do.

If you are coming, I think it a good idea to require your agencies and owners to spray before your arrival-it could not hurt. We have had the much needed rains, that fill cisterns and water the plants nd create breeding grounds for the mosquito larvae to develop.
 
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