‘No new cases’ of scarlet fever
Chief Medical Officer Dr The Most Honourable Kenneth George says there have been no new cases of scarlet fever, chicken pox or monkeypox in Barbados. Last month, a number of students fell ill at Hillaby/Turner’s Hall Primary in St Thomas, presenting with rash and fever. Some parents expressed concern for the health and safety of […] The post ‘No new cases’ of scarlet fever appeared first on nationnews.com.
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Chief Medical Officer Dr The Most Honourable Kenneth George says there have been no new cases of scarlet fever, chicken pox or monkeypox in Barbados.
Last month, a number of students fell ill at Hillaby/Turner’s Hall Primary in St Thomas, presenting with rash and fever. Some parents expressed concern for the health and safety of their children in the school environment.
George had confirmed that 13 cases of students presenting with symptoms, including rash, fever and sore throat, had been reported and investigated. Of those cases, only one tested positive for Group A Streptococcus, the bacteria that causes scarlet fever. He added the remaining children assessed showed no positive results for these conditions.
Speaking to the DAILY NATION via telephone yesterday, he confirmed that after investigating Hillaby/ Turner’s Hall as well as Luther Thorne Memorial Primary School in Wildey, St Michael, there were no further cases of scarlet fever.
“We are still of the opinion that the cases of scarlet fever may have originated from the communities and not with respect to spreading in schools. Although students who are usually between the ages of three and ten years old are at increased risk because they tend to be very friendly and communicate with each other very closely, the spread is not an issue of the cleanliness of schools,” he explained.
“We have the information to suggest that particularly for Luther Thorne, that it was a family cluster. Therefore, it didn’t occur within the school setting. It was within a family and that was also for Hillaby/ Turner’s Hall. It wasn’t widespread infections among students. It’s highly likely that the infection was introduced from communities.”
George underscored the important role of the public health sector in identifying the schools early, sending out the appropriate teams to do the epidemiological investigations, along with the preventative investigations to make sure that any contagious disease is not spread.
“We will continue to do that. In the new school term, we’re working with the ministry to ensure that schools are kept clean, and sanitation is of importance, and respiratory etiquette is taken seriously.”
He also confirmed there were no cases of chicken pox and monkeypox in Barbados. He said four cases of monkeypox were recorded, with the last occurring a year ago. He encouraged people to avoid panicking, look out for the symptoms and report to their general practitioners if they suspect they may be contaminated.
“There is nothing to worry about with respect to monkeypox. We in public health will continue to stay alert. That’s the most we can do and ask the public to, if they have any unusual rash or symptoms, to report to their general practitioners and we will advise. The tests for monkeypox in Barbados are available in Barbados.
“As far as I’m aware, there’s no chickenpox outbreak in Barbados at this time,” he said.
(AJ)
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