Santo Domingo.- The Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday night the implementation of preventive security measures to protect the population due to a suspected anthrax outbreak in Haitian territory.

The Ministry of Health has been in constant communication with international organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in Haiti.

“These entities have confirmed that, to date, no confirmed cases of anthrax have been diagnosed in the region. Current suspicions are based solely on preliminary clinical evaluations,” the Ministry of Health explained in a press release.

In coordination with the Ministry of Defense, border security protocols have been activated to prevent any possible spread of the disease. These measures include strict health controls and intensified epidemiological surveillance in the border area.

“We reiterate our commitment to the health and safety of the Dominican population. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and keep citizens informed of any relevant updates provided by international organizations.”

Citizens are urged to stay informed through official channels and not to fall for unfounded alarms. The Ministry of Health remains attentive and vigilant in this situation and reaffirms its commitment to public health.

• Warrens Tower II, Warrens, St Michael – Monday, July 22.
• Emerald City Carpark, Six Roads, St Philip – Tuesday, July 23.
• National Insurance and Social Security Service, Culloden Road, St Michael – Wednesday, July 24.
• Queen’s Park, Constitution Road, St. Michael – Thursday, July 25.

The services being provided are routine screening for non-communicable diseases, Prostate-specific antigen testing, blood pressure checks and blood sugar testing, HbA1c , screening for sexually transmitted infections, breast examination and teaching, and Tetanus Toxoid vaccines.

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Houston-Sydney-Massachusetts – Extreme heat can increase the danger of heat-related illnesses and, more subtly, threaten health by amplifying the side effects of many common medications.

Heat can also damage medications such as insulin, which requires refrigeration. Inhalers can explode. Epinephrine injectors, such as EpiPens, can malfunction. Medications that are shipped through the mail can deteriorate.

A look at common problems and solutions related to heat and medicine:

What medications could cause problems with heat?

Blood pressure pills that reduce fluid in the blood can cause dehydration. Beta-blockers for heart conditions can reduce blood flow to the skin and make you less aware of dangerous heat.

Some antidepressants can make it harder to stay calm. Aspirin and other over-the-counter pain relievers reduce fluid and sodium levels, making it difficult to manage high temperatures.

In addition, the combination of heat and medication side effects can lead to dizziness and falls. Alcohol increases the danger, said pharmacist Bradley Phillips of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.

Learn more about your medications’ side effects and storage requirements at the National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus website.

Phillips said you can also check with your doctor or pharmacist. Ask how much water you should drink if you take medications that increase dehydration.

He recommends staying hydrated and “not relying on your body’s ability to tell you that you’re thirsty.”

Some medications (antibiotics, antifungals, and acne) can increase sun sensitivity, leading to rashes and burns. If you’re taking them, stay under an umbrella or wear sun-protective clothes and sunscreen, said Dr. Mike Ren, a family physician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

“You may be on antibiotics, not think too much of it, go to the beach and then come back with a huge sunburn,” Ren said.

How should travel medications be stored?

Generally, medications should be kept in a cool, dry place unless they need refrigeration, which can be tricky when traveling.

Before a summer road trip, check labels for storage requirements for your medications. Carry medications in a cooler when traveling by car, even if they do not require refrigeration. The trunk or glove compartment of the car may become too hot to store them, even at room temperature.

Traveling by plane? It is always best to carry medications in carry-on luggage if checked luggage is delayed or lost, and it may be too cold in the cargo hold.

What about mailed prescriptions?

Mail-order pharmacies are responsible for keeping medications at safe temperatures during storage and transport. The best practice is to ship sensitive medications in special containers with ice packs and temperature monitors.

But that doesn’t always happen. Or delivery can come at a bad time, said Ren, who recently helped his vacationing mother by bringing her shipment of supplements to her Houston home as the region faced sweltering heat.

“If you know you’re going to be at work all day or if you’re on vacation and you’re having medications delivered to your home, you definitely don’t want them outside in the scorching 38-degree sun,” Ren said. If you think the heat has damaged your mail-order medication, call the pharmacy to report the problem.

Is more research needed?

Yes. Researchers in the U.S. and Australia say some of the usual warnings about heat and medications don’t have much scientific evidence to back them up. Ollie Jay of the University of Sydney found support for only four of the 11 categories of medications that the World Health Organization lists as of concern in relation to intense heat.

He suggests changing behaviors, not medications, such as not exposing oneself to heat. “You have to be a little more cautious,” he said.

Dr. Renee Salas, an emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that as climate change accelerates, there is a need to know which medications are the most risky in the heat.

“We don’t have that answer yet, and it’s one we need to figure out quickly. Some medications (antibiotics, antifungal and acne medications) can increase sensitivity to the sun, leading to rashes and burns.ente,” Salas said.

Dengue is becoming a severe problem in Latin America and the Caribbean, warned the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

However, thanks to the biological modification of the mosquitoes that transmit this disease, the World Mosquito Program is managing to reduce cases by leaps and bounds in some regions of the world.

After years of hard work, the World Mosquito Program reduced dengue cases by 95% in the Antioquia region of Colombia.

How? By breeding and later releasing mosquitoes born with the Wolbachia bacterium, which “prevents transmission” of this tropical endemic disease, which causes headaches, vomiting, and, in some cases, even death.

Despite these promising results, PAHO warns that Latin America and the Caribbean will experience their “worst dengue season” this year, with some 9.3 million cases and at least 4,500 deaths between January and June due to climate change, lack of water services, and overpopulation.

Nelson Grisales, responsible for this project in Medellín, explains that the first step to solving the problem is to raise awareness among governments:

When they begin to understand and accept biological control methods, particularly this one, which is a natural method without manipulation, governments will start to require them. That willingness to understand takes time for something revolutionary, but we are on the right track.

Another factor preventing the implementation of this prevention system is the lack of resources to adopt it in tropical and subtropical developing countries.

“We all know that the resources available for public health and diseases such as dengue, which are not necessarily very lethal, are neglected diseases,” said Morales, who assured that these nations do not have much budget to be able to control them.

For this reason, the specialist stressed the importance of “international cooperation and donors” to support government work and allocate or reallocate some resources.

THE RISK OF DISINFORMATION
Finally, the expert points to misinformation hindering program integration in some regions. For example, in September last year, a handful of people protested in front of his laboratory, arguing that Bill Gates, one of the project’s funders, releases chips through mosquitoes to control minds.

“information, at the moment, is a problem at the public health level: the anti-vaccine, anti-medicine, anti-medicine campaigns, in general terms, are huge and affect all countries,” he said. In his opinion, this generates a “mistaken understanding” of many factors, which can lead to disinformation campaigns with a mistaken narrative, however intuitive or normal they may be.

All these obstacles may delay the project’s implementation in some countries, but experts are convinced that the World Mosquito Program will soon become a public health measure. He assures that its mission will not end until dengue fever is eradicated.

The Vector Control Unit will take its fogging programme to St George and St John, this week.

The Unit will visit both parishes on Monday when it carries out its fogging exercise in Wakefield Road, Four Road, Lemon Arbour Village, Bayley Alley, Sweet Vale, Butcher Road, Brathwaite Road, and Golden Ridge.

The team will focus on St George, for the rest of the week. On Tuesday the Unit will spray Paradise Village Nos. 1 to 3, Roach Village, Applewhaites, Lucas Hall Tenantry Road, Lucas Heights, Belair Nos.1 and 2, Upper Belair, Jericho, and surrounding areas.

It will be the turn of Cottage Heights, Cottage Crescent, Grove Tenantry, Market Hill, Bridge Cot, Grove Cottage, Bridge Cot Terrace, Old Post Office Road, Cottage Court West, Cottage Crescent Drive, Moon Shine Close, and St Helens, when the Unit fogs on Wednesday.

The next day the following districts will be sprayed:1st and 2nd Lower Newbury, Newbury, Fusilier Road, Rose Hill, Taitt Hill, and Newbury Heights.

The fogging exercise for the week will conclude on Friday in Salisbury, Hope Road, Free Hill, Workmans, and environs.

Fogging takes place from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. daily. Householders are reminded to open their windows and doors to allow the spray to enter. Children should not be allowed to play in the fog.

Members of the public are advised that the completion of scheduled fogging activities may be affected by events beyond the Unit’s control. In such circumstances, the Unit will return to communities affected in the soonest possible time.

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Santo Domingo – Nearly 80% of the patients who arrive at an emergency room are emergency cases. This highlights the need to educate the population about the difference between emergency rooms and urgencies so that they know where to go in the event of a medical eventuality, said Dr. Josué Hernández, medical director of Médico Express.

Urgency can be any health condition that requires quick medical assistance but does not put a patient’s life at risk. Examples include migraines, back pain, ear pain, fever, mild trauma, and viral or allergic processes.

An emergency is when a person has a life-threatening situation requires immediate attention. These almost always require hospitalization or intensive care, for example, chest pain, loss of consciousness, convulsions, profuse bleeding, and polytrauma, among others, added Hernandez.

People who attend Médico Express will be able to have most of their health conditions and situations treated from the point of view of urgency, consultation, diagnosis, and even outpatient surgeries.

The emergency medicine specialist emphasized, “We do not perform hospitalizations; our rooms are emergency rooms. It is important that the citizens know these differences and scope.” Educating and orienting the patient benefits the system.

Punta Cana.- The Ministry of Agriculture of the Dominican Republic, in collaboration with regional food security agencies, conducted a simulation this week to eradicate the Mediterranean fruit fly in Punta Cana.

The pest was first identified in late December and was swiftly eradicated with the support of technicians from various international and Dominican institutions under the Department of Plant Health. Rosa Lazala, director of the department, stated that the country is progressing towards the eradication of Ceratitis capitata, following the emergency protocol provisions.

The drill involved releasing more sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies. To date, 22 of the planned 24 releases have been completed, with over three million flies being released each week.

The Dominican Republic is close to eliminating this insect in record time, setting a model for 13 Mesoamerican countries. This effort is part of the Subregional Simulation of International Scope of the Mediterranean Fly Eradication Program for the Caribbean region and other member nations of the International Regional Organization for Agricultural Health (OIRSA).

Limber Cruz, Minister of Agriculture, led the eradication drill along with former President Hipólito Mejía. Cruz credited President Luis Abinader for the strengthened agricultural sector, including health. The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that since the last capture in January, no new flies have been detected.

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Republic has reported 941 cases of dengue fever and nine deaths so far this year, according to the Ministry of Public Health. This represents a decrease compared to the same period last year.

The latest weekly epidemiological bulletin confirms six new cases of dengue in the past seven days, one fewer than the previous week. Despite this, the number of suspected cases this year has surpassed 8,000.

The Ministry of Health recently launched the “Let’s Beat Dengue” campaign to combat the spread of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for transmitting dengue, chikungunya, and zika viruses. The campaign aims to reduce mosquito proliferation during the peak season of virus transmission, which is exacerbated by the heat and rain.

Last year, the Dominican Republic experienced a severe outbreak with approximately 28,000 confirmed cases and over 60 deaths.

View the full post CARPHA provides health response support to hurricane devastated Member States on NOW Grenada.

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Senate has approved the first reading of a bill that aims to strengthen the prohibition of hookah use in public and private spaces. The initiative, presented by Senator Virgilio Cedano from La Altagracia, seeks to expand the scope of the ban to better protect the health and environment.

The proposed legislation modifies Article 3 of Law 16-19, which currently prohibits the use of hookahs in closed, covered places, vehicles, squares, parks, stadiums, and other areas where people gather for recreational or sporting purposes.

The bill highlights the risks associated with hookah smoke, which contains toxic substances such as carbon monoxide, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These harmful emissions can have severe health consequences for vulnerable individuals, including older adults, pregnant women, and children who are often exposed to secondhand smoke in public places.

This effort follows a similar move by the mayor of Higüey in La Altagracia province, Karina Aristy, who banned the use of vapers, hookahs, and alcohol consumption in squares and parks in her municipality last June. The new bill aims to take a similar approach nationwide, promoting a safer and healthier environment for all citizens.