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WASHINGTON, DC (PAHO):
W
ITH AN increase in
COVID-19 infections
in the region, seasonal
influenza on the rise, and a spike
in cases of Respiratory Syncytial
Virus (RSV), the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO)
director, Carissa F. Etienne,
called on countries to implement
the tools proven to keep
communities safe, including
vaccines, surveillance, mask
wearing and social distancing,
particularly in the run-up to the
festive period.
“The rise of a single respiratory
infection is a cause for concern.
When two or three start impacting
a population concurrently, this
should put us all on alert,” she
said during a media briefing on
Wednesday.
Cases of COVID-19 have
increased by 17 per cent in the
region over the past week, and
deaths increased in South America
and Central America. A reduction
in testing may be hiding the true
number of infections.
“The situation can change
quickly,” she warned. “Every time
we become complacent with this
virus, we run the risk of resurgence.
Major clean-up planned for Hanover as garbage pile-up causes rat invasion
Bryan Miller
Hanover Correspondent
WESTERN BUREAU
Acting regional operations
manager for Western Parks and
Markets (WPM) Management
Limited, Dramaine Jones, says
the agency has planned a major
clean-up in town centres across the
parish of Hanover for the holiday
period.
Jones says mass backlog
cleanings have also been planned
with the expected injection of new
trucks in the system by Christmas.
He was responding to issues
raised at the Hanover Municipal
Corporation’s (HMC) monthly
meeting for November about
rat infestation reportedly due to
several months of uncollected
THE GLEANER, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2022 | www.jamaica-gleaner.
Countries must be vigilant of ‘triple threat’
as holidays approach - PAHO director
Pan American Health Organization
(PAHO) Director, Dr Carissa
Etienne. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
We cannot lower our guard.”
STRENGTHEN GENOMIC
SURVEILLANCE
Meanwhile, cases of influenza
in North America are rising and an
garbage across areas, and growing
concerns about the impact on
public health.
Reports to the meeting from the
National Solid Waste Management
Authority (NSWMA) through its
subsidiary in western Jamaica,
WPM, are that for the last three
months, August to October, there
was an increase in the backlog of
garbage to be cleared across the
parish.
In August it was reported by
WPM that there were 34 districts
across the parish with backlog of
garbage to be cleared. This figure
increased to 45 in September, with
a further increase to 62 in October.
Councillors in the HMC all
identified the garbage pile-up
across the parish as the reason for
the increased presence of rats as
FILE - A child cries as her mother prepares her to receive a flu vaccine in
Mexico City, Oct 1, 2020. The Pan American Health Organization said
Wednesday, Nov 16, that some respiratory diseases are emerging in an
atypical way in the Americas, one of the possible effects of lack of exposure
to these viruses due to confinement and social distancing during the
coronavirus pandemic. AP
out-of-season increase in cases in
the Southern Cone is also being
seen, particularly in Argentina
and Uruguay, which is putting
unexpected stress on health
systems.
RSV infections have also
the situation provided the perfect
breeding ground for them.
Deputy mayor of Lucea, Andria
Dehaney-Grant, said that during
recent heavy rains in her municipal
corporation division of Sandy Bay,
residents witnessed several huge
rats being washed out of their
breeding places and floating
downstream.
“One problem is breeding
another, and we need to get rid
of the original problem of the
pile-up of garbage before we
can properly control or get rid of
the rat problem,” Dehaney-Grant
stated.
Councillor Marvel Sewell of
the Green Island division said
that there had been no garbage
collection in his division for some
time.
increased significantly, burdening
health systems in Canada, Mexico,
Brazil, Uruguay and the United
States, and having a particular
impact on children and infants
under the age of one.
Dr Etienne highlighted that the
“I can’t recall the last time a
garbage truck come into my space
(Green Island council division), and
the residents across the division
are reporting that there are a lot
of rats present at all the garbage
dumpsters,” he stated.
He enquired of the Medical
Officer of Health (MOH) for the
parish, Dr Kaushal Singh, the
number of leptospirosis cases that
have been noted for the parish
in the last month. Leptospirosis
is a disease that is present in the
rodents, and can be transmitted
to humans if they (the humans)
come in contact with the waste
of the rodents.
Sewell said that his curiosity
about the rat-borne disease was
piqued because of the large
number of the rodents present in
Kingston Gleaner, November 18, 2022,Pg. 38, Kingston, Kingston, JM
https://newspaperarchive.com/kingston-gleaner-nov-18-2022-p-38/
strategies used to limit the spread
of COVID-19, including mask-
wearing and social distancing, also
apply to other respiratory diseases,
including RSV, for which there is
currently no vaccine.
Countries must also strengthen
genomic surveillance of diseases
and continue to encourage
vaccination against COVID-19 and
influenza.
This year, the PAHO Revolving
Fund has procured 39.5 million
vaccine doses against COVID-19,
and 31 million influenza vaccines
to Member States.
“We have enough vaccines to
keep us all safe. Let’s use them,”
urged the director.
Turning to the additional
outbreaks in the Americas, Dr
Etienne reported that the cholera
situation in Haiti continues to
worsen, with over 700 confirmed
cases since early October, 7,000
suspected cases, and 144 deaths.
PAHO continues to support
Haiti in providing life-saving care
his HMC divisional area.
Singh advised that two
notifications of the disease
were received by the Hanover
Health Department (HHD) and
investigated during the month
October, one from the parish
capital, Lucea, and the other from
Hopewell. This, he said, compares
with one case during the similar
period in 2021. There was also
one suspected case reported to
the HHD in September compared
to none in September last year.
He said despite the low figure,
the health department would not
be complacent and was requesting
assistance from the HMC towards
implementing a rat-baiting project
across the parish.
“We (at the HHD) have received
reports that there is rat infestation
to patients, deploying health
workers and facilitating access to
fuel for health facilities, but other
countries must increase vigilance,
the director urged.
Monkeypox infections have
fallen in most of the severely
affected countries, and Dr Etienne
called on countries to continue to
engage with those who are most
at risk, “to drive cases to zero as
quickly as possible”.
As far as polio is concerned,
the PAHO director reported no
further cases in the region, though
vaccination remains “historically
low”.
“We must remember that polio
spreads silently, and it has no cure
or treatment,” she said. “Vaccines
are our best tool to prevent this
disease.”
As we head into the holiday
season and travel to visit family
and friends, people must remain
vigilant about all these health
threats and learn from the lessons
of COVID-19, Dr Etienne said:
“We have the tools at our
disposal to limit the impact of
severe respiratory diseases, and
we must continue to respond to
these crises as a region. “Let’s not
take these lessons for granted.”
in some areas of the parish, I am
not going to say in which areas,
but one thing to highlight is that
proper garbage disposal is key
to prevent an increase in the rat
population,” Singh stated. He
said continuous baiting has to be
done to have any serious effect
on controlling the rat population
across the parish.
But there was indecision
among the councillors on the
timing of the rat-baiting exercise,
whether it should be done before
or after the garbage backlog was
cleared.
The MOH indicated nonetheless
that his department will be
forwarding a project proposal
for the eradication of the rat
population within the parish to
the HMC, for its financial support.