| —as preliminary studies substantiate links to troubling concerns to virusPreliminary studies have been completed and the consensus embraced by the World Health OrganisationMinister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton(WHO) is that some troubling conditions linked to the Zika virus are indeed realistic.This will moreover attract more funding to tackling the mosquito transmitted virus.This state of affairs was yesterday highlighted by Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.The Zika Virus, which has been causing public health panic in a number of countries, has been linked to not only microcephaly,Fikayo Tomori Chelsea Jersey, a state whereby a newborn is delivered with an abnormally small head,Mousa Dembele Hotspur Jersey UK, but also the Guillain-Barre Syndrome – an autoimmune disorder.Health officials had long suspected that there was a link between the virus and the aforementioned conditions, among others, following the Zika Virus outbreak which infiltrated a number of countries,Trevor Story Rockies Jersey, last year.While the virus is generally transmitted similarly to the Chikungunya Virus and dengue fever through the bites of Aedes type mosquitoes, it is believed that it can also be transmitted sexually by an infected person. The Aedes mosquitoes are endemic to tropical locations.Guyana recorded its first case of the virus earlier this year. Five others have since been confirmed bringing the number of confirmed cases here to six. But Minister Norton insisted that Guyana has not been plagued with any of the associated conditions.He related yesterday that since the outbreak of the virus, WHO has placed a lot of attention on the virus. However,John Ross Jersey, with the confirmation that the suspected conditions are indeed linked to the virus, even greater emphasis, complete with financial support, is slated to be placed on it,T. J. Logan Cardinas Jersey, Dr. Norton divulged yesterday.Guyana has been depending heavily on the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad to ascertain the status of suspected samples. But in order to be independent, Minister Norton noted that two local persons were selected to be trained by CARPHA with the view to having them eventually be able to test for the virus here.However, he disclosed that with the increased attention being placed on the virus, “Our effort to get Guyanese (personnel) trained, became caught up with efforts by CARPHA to train much more than the Guyanese and this has pushed back the completion of our training.”“So we will have to wait before the two persons we sent out to train can get back to Guyana and start to work,” said Minister Norton who also pointed out that “the feedback we got is that our people are significantly qualified and experienced and it wouldn’t be much of a training to do.”According to the Minister, too, once training is completed, tests will be conducted at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory which is located in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. He asserted too that the facilities there are in working order although he did admit that a shortcoming that was faced in the past was and still is the availability of re-agents.But this is expected to be a thing of the past with the forthcoming support asserted, Dr. Norton.Meanwhile,Jeroen Zoet Netherland Jersey, he disclosed that efforts at controlling a recent upsurge of the mosquito population in Berbice have been yielding success. Although the added effort would mean additional pressure for the health sector, Minister Norton said that it (the health sector) has had years of battling mosquito borne viruses thus is well prepared for the challenge.“Fortunate for Guyana we have been fighting mosquitoes for the longest time since the beginning of the health sector and while the species of mosquitoes might have changed the procedure still remains the same, so we were able to get control of it,” said Minister Norton. |
