The Ministry of Health on Saturday denied an allegation by opposition APNU+AFC parliamentarian, Christopher Jones that several nurses of the Campbellville Health Centre fell ill. “At the time of discovery, no staff reported any adverse health effects,” the Health Ministry said in response to Mr Jones’ claim on Facebook that ten nurses from the Campbellville ...

Health officials in the United States have raised alarms about a sharp rise in cases of measles, a highly infectious viral illness that spreads through the air and can cause serious complications or even death. During the first quarter of this year alone, there have already been approximately 30 per cent of the total measles cases reported since 2020. Medical experts view this sudden surge as a significant setback to efforts aimed at eliminating measles from the US.

But in a bid to console residents here, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Arthur Phillips said on Thursday that Barbados has maintained its measles elimination status up to 2023.

“There have been no confirmed cases of measles in Barbados in the 21st century thus far. The last confirmed case of measles in Barbados was in 1991,” Dr Phillips told Barbados TODAY.

“There is an annual verification process to certify the elimination of measles in countries, and this includes the ability of the country to demonstrate that there is a strong epidemiological surveillance system in place, which Barbados has consistently demonstrated.”

Turning his attention to measles prevention, he said Barbados, like other countries, had seen a decline in measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine coverage in 2020, associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said the trend had rebounded, although not to the ideal levels.

Dr Phillips said: “In 2022 and 2023, there was a steady reversal of the declining trend in coverage. For 2022, the MMR coverage for the first dose was 85 per cent and the MMR coverage for the second dose was 73 per cent. At the end of 2023, the MMR coverage for the first dose was 90 per cent and the MMR coverage for the second dose was 76 per cent,” he revealed. “Two doses of MMR vaccine are needed to ensure maximum protection against measles and overall, the coverage is well below the targeted 95 per cent.”

Dr Phillips explained that one dose of MMR vaccine is 93 per cent effective at preventing measles, and two doses are 97 per cent effective. The MMR vaccine’s first dose is usually administered at age one and the second dose at 18 months.

The senior medical official pointed out that the immunisation programme has historically performed “very well” and has maintained routine vaccination, including MMR vaccine coverage at “reasonably high levels”.

“This success,” Dr Phillips contended, “has led to good population immunity and now unfortunately to some complacency within the population.”

He said that interventions aimed at improving MMR coverage include new and ongoing activities supervised by the Senior Health Sisters in the various polyclinics.

These activities include reviewing vaccine registers to identify children that have defaulted from vaccination so that their parents can be called, and appointments scheduled for vaccination at the polyclinic. They also involve visits to nurseries and daycare facilities by public health nurses to check vaccination cards and alert parents of children who are missing vaccines through written notices. That activity was started in February and is ongoing, Dr Phillips said.

MMR vaccine coverage was also tackled by the opening of several clinics on Saturdays during March and is aimed at continuing throughout the year.

Dr Phillips announced that MMR immunisation was also being taken to the community to vaccinate eligible children who missed their shots in 2020 through 2023.

“This includes introduction of the new mobile bus recently commenced to facilitate the delivery of health interventions more directly within communities around Barbados,” he said.

Barbados will also be taking part in Vaccine Week of the Americas which runs from April 20-27, and features health fairs and exhibitions and open days at polyclinics. The week begins with two health fairs on Saturday the Emerald City Complex, Six Roads St Philip, and Massy Supermarket and Shopping Complex, Warrens, St Michael.

In the US, from 2020 through 2023, there was an average of five measles cases in the first quarter of each year. Those low numbers were due, in part, to the COVID pandemic, when fewer people were interacting in person. By contrast, this year’s first-quarter tally was 97, according to a report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday.

“The rapid increase in the number of reported measles cases during the first quarter of 2024 represents a renewed threat to elimination,” the authors wrote.

Measles has been considered eliminated in the US since 2000, meaning the disease is no longer constantly present, though there are still occasional outbreaks there.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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Dr Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the avian influenza virus – which is also known as H5N1 – has had an “extremely high” mortality rate among the several hundred people known to have been infected with it to date.

To date, no human-to-human H5N1 transmission has been recorded.

“H5N1 is (an) influenza infection, predominantly started in poultry and ducks and has spread effectively over the course of the last one or two years to become a global zoonotic – animal – pandemic,” he said. 

“The great concern, of course, is that in doing so and infecting ducks and chickens – but now increasingly mammals – that that virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans. And then critically, the ability to go from human-to-human transmission.”

Cattle mystery

Commenting on an ongoing outbreak of H5N1 virus among dairy cows in the United States, the WHO senior official urged further close monitoring and investigation by public health authorities, “because it may evolve into transmitting in different ways”.

He added: “Do the milking structures of cows create aerosols? Is it the environment which they’re living in? Is it the transport system that is spreading this around the country? This is a huge concern and I think we have to … make sure that if H5N1 did come across to humans with human-to-human transmission, that we were in a position to immediately respond with access equitably to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.”

SOURCE: United Nations 

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Heart disease is part of a larger grouping called cardiovascular diseases, which include strokes and heart attacks; cardiovascular diseases, cancers and even mental illnesses are normally included in the NCDs.

These NCDs are generally caused by lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating, alcohol overuse, and inappropriate habits like smoking tobacco and marijuana, and can lead to heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes and some cancers. These are called disease risk factors.

Some risk factors, such as gender, age and genetics (family history) cannot be changed by individual activity: these are called non-modifiable risk factors.

The modifiable risk factors include obesity, unhealthy diet, high blood pressure (hypertension); high blood sugar (diabetes); high cholesterol; smoking (nicotine/marijuana), including exposure to smoke – sidestream smoking; alcohol overuse, and inactivity.

Present medical knowledge suggests we can prevent about 80 per cent of the suffering and death from NCDs if we adopt healthy habits.

Some of the ways to avoid any of the NCDs include:

• Maintain a healthy weight. Avoid overweight and obesity if possible. While the pharmaceutical industry has developed quite a few potent medications for promoting weight loss, at this time it seems that this set of medications can only be afforded by high-income countries. Thus for low and middle-income countries, obesity prevention programmes, as opposed to weight reduction, should be the focus, particularly targeting the paediatric population. Persons who are obese are also more likely to develop the other major cardiovascular risk factors diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol (called dyslipidemia).

• Limit unhealthy foods and eat healthy meals. Generally speaking, the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier options, while processed foods, in boxes and tins, tend to have too much salt, sugars, unhealthy fats and preservatives, and are not good for long-term health. It is hoped that the front-of-package labelling will soon become a reality here, and encourage individuals to consider ‘health’ when purchasing food.

• Drink lots of water and stay well hydrated. This is especially important in our already hot climate, and the experts predict even hotter days ahead.

• Limit sugar-sweetened Beverages (SSBs), strongly implicated in our alarming Childhood Obesity Statistics, and mindful that an obese child is very likely to become an obese adult. An ounce of ‘preventing obesity’ is better than a pound of ‘curing obesity’.

• Exercise regularly and be physically active. It is recognised that inactivity (‘laziness’) may be even more dangerous than smoking as a contributor to poor health. Reduce sitting and screen time, as these discourage individuals from being physically active.

• Get enough good sleep. Sleep medicine is an emerging specialty area of medicine, as it is recognised that the quality and quantity of your sleep cycle affects what happens during your waking hours. Adults should aim for five to seven hours of sleep every night.

• Go easy on alcohol and stay sober. Moderation is key.

• [The 11th Commandment of Health]: Thou shalt not smoke. Even exposure to the smoke from someone else – second-hand smoke or side-stream smoking- is dangerous, and can be deadly.

• Know your numbers. Family medicine is evolving to include more of what is termed ‘patient-centred care’: part of this involves the individual taking control of large portions of their health. Thus individuals are encouraged to monitor their blood pressure and blood sugars and to know what these numbers should be.

Perhaps before too long this may be expanded to include blood cholesterol levels. Of the three ‘medical disease’ risk factors hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, the order of potency is hypertension (least potent), diabetes, and high cholesterol (most potent). However when any two appear together, e.g. diabetes and hypertension, hypertension and high cholesterol, the potency of the combination rises markedly. The risk of a major cardiac event or stroke rises significantly if all three: diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, appear in the same individual, and the term ‘metabolic syndrome’, a condition associated with high risk for sudden death, heart attacks, strokes and a variety of severe medical problems, is used when obesity appears with the other three risk factors. Unfortunately, in some Caribbean populations with high rates of obesity, many patients have metabolic syndrome which contributes to the 80 per cent of people who die from cardiovascular disease.

All adults must avail themselves of the appropriate screening for breast, uterine, prostate and colon cancers. Thus mammograms, pap smears, PSA tests and colon cancer screening should be fitted into the schedule of all adults who treasure good health.

All adults should schedule their periodic health examinations, also called the annual checkup, with their family physicians. Those with established disease need to be monitored more frequently. Apart from prevention, the next step is early detection, in an effort to prevent severe or even life-threatening illnesses. We are witnessing our single public tertiary institution crumble under the load of patients who flock to the Emergency Department. You should not postpone seeing about your health until an accident or emergency develops.

Some, perhaps many, people feel that they only need to go to the doctor when they are unwell. In our population, the profile of illnesses suggests that this is unwise. Diseases like diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are all considered ‘silent killers’: they slowly ‘wear you down’ from the inside while you are totally unaware as, in most cases, there are no or very few symptoms. Thus ‘little’ symptoms like fatigue, poor concentration, deteriorating vision, disturbed sleep and many others are often attributed to getting old, needing a tonic, or under stress from too much work/too little pay/too little sexual activity or following WI cricket. When evaluated by a medical professional, any ‘warning signs’ can be detected early, and preventive action taken. On the other hand, when specific symptoms develop, this may signify advanced disease, and even emergency treatment (in the rare scenario that it can be quickly assessed) may not change poor outcomes in the immediate-to-long term.

Staying healthy does not require the same luck as winning the lottery, where only one or two people win. You don’t have to take a chance and hope you too can be a winner. Following a few sensible options, living a life of moderation, having an annual evaluation of your health status, and listening to the advice of your family physician, can go a long way to living well past three score and ten.

Dr Colin V Alert MBBS DM is a family physician.

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Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Davidson Ishmael, officially opened the facility on Wednesday, stating that it was also open to members of the public for a nominal fee.

“I want that as soon as we cut this ribbon that people can actually start utilising the space. It may not be a Surfside gym, but it is still a premium facility and of very high quality in terms of equipment, infrastructure and space.

“As we have invested . . . in you [the staff] and your wellbeing, I want to encourage every member of the Psychiatric Hospital team and those at the rest of the healthcare facilities, in addition to the public of Barbados to make good use of this space,” Ishmael said.

The minister added that if “we are going to be talking about health and wellness as a Ministry of Health and Wellness, we have to make sure that we’re providing as many avenues and opportunities for our staff or team members to be at their optimum”.

“Part of being at your optimum is being able to have access to healthcare facilities and also gym facilities that would allow you to be able to function at your best. We believe that everyone has a right to good healthcare, mental health as you guys are part of this whole mental health system and infrastructure that we have placed in Barbados to be able to provide this service to our people. We understand that you, too, have to be at your best level and at your best quality of mental healthcare . . . ,” he said.

Ishmael explained that the reopening of the facility was another prong in government’s efforts to ensure that the island’s healthcare service providers are given access to spaces that would allow them to be at their best.

“Therefore, you can then provide that service, that excellent service that you’re already doing [and] continue to provide that excellent service to the patients who are here at the hospital as well.”

He urged members of the public to utilise the facilities which will be made accessible to them at a “minimal” fee.

“We want persons to be able to come into the actual environment of the Psychiatric Hospital, understanding that this is a safe space. It is a safe space, just like any other space in Barbados, and we therefore want people to be able to traverse through understanding that they can come to this gym.

“They can exercise within the environs of persons who are seeking assistance and seeking care, but this is not a place that they can run from or should run from, but this is a place where we can embrace holistically as a society,” Ishmael said. (BGIS/FW)

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The Barbados Drug Service (BDS) has advised that persons should expect

increased wait times at some polyclinic pharmacies, until further notice, due to the implementation of a new Pharmacy Management System.

These include the pharmacies at the Winston Scott Polyclinic, David

Thompson Health and Social Services Complex, St Joseph Out-Patients Clinic, and the St Andrew Out-Patients Clinic.

The new system is expected to result in an improvement in patient records

management, treatment, and pharmaceutical health care and safety.

Management of the BDS regrets any inconvenience this temporary increase in wait times may cause and encourages members of the public to arrange their business accordingly. (BGIS)

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Natural honey, molasses, unrefined maple syrup, fruit purees, dates prunes and Stevia are examples of healthier alternatives which can be used in moderation in place of refined sugars

View the full post Sources and benefits of natural sugars  on NOW Grenada.

Santo Domingo.- Over the weekend, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance fell victim to a cyber attack, resulting in the theft of over 8,000 files containing Covid-19 vaccination records. The breach, perpetrated by unidentified individuals, compromised sensitive information including names, phone numbers, and addresses of vaccinated individuals from various sessions organized by the Dominican State.

Sources familiar with the incident revealed that the stolen data is likely to be traded on the Dark Web for prices ranging from 1 to 3 euros (approximately RD$190). This unauthorized access was facilitated by the absence of updated antivirus protection on the Ministry’s computers, leaving them vulnerable to malware and malicious software.

An ongoing investigation, led by the National Police, has traced the breach to a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address. However, apprehending the perpetrators proves challenging, given their potential presence within the Dominican Republic and the sophisticated tools required to access the Dark Web.

Accessing the Dark Web necessitates specialized tools like TOR, a platform known for its anonymity and unindexed nature, making it a hub for illicit activities ranging from drug trafficking to the sale of weapons, counterfeit currency, stolen financial data, and forged documents. Unraveling the network of organizations involved in data theft requires the expertise and resources of agencies like the FBI.

A number of communities in St Michael and Christ Church will be fogged by the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ Vector Control Unit this week.

The Unit will begin its fogging exercise on Monday, April 15, in the following St Michael districts: Brittons New Road, Rolling Road, Taitts Road, Eastmond Road, Gunsite Road, Bonnetts Housing Area, and surrounding districts.

It will then visit Thomas Road, Club Morgan Road with avenues, Plantain Walk, Clapham Drive, Simmons Road, and Rendezvous High Ridge with avenues, on Tuesday, April 16.

On Wednesday, April 17, the team will spray Fordes Road with avenues, Clapham Heights, Clapham Road, Clapham Park, Adam’s Road, Observatory Road, Clapham Ridge, Laynes Road, Clapham Close, and neighbouring districts.

The next day, Thursday, April 18, the Unit will go into Christ Church to fog Rendezvous Road, Rendezvous Ridge, Rendezvous Garden, Amity Lodge, Worthing Main Road, Bamboo Road, Craigg Road, Beckles Road, and Harmony Hall with avenues.

The fogging exercise for the week will conclude on Friday, April 19, in St Michael in Bridge Gap, Upper Goodland, Gills Gap and avenues, Browns Gap, Alkins Road, Wilkinson Road, Richmond Gap, Thomas Gap, and Lower Richmond Gap.

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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In its most recent update, the Ministry of Health and Wellness stated that since the outbreak began in October 2023, four deaths have been recorded. It added that a number of people were referred to hospital with warning signs and some were hospitalised with severe dengue.

The predominant serotype identified has been type 2, followed by type 3. 

Up to the week ending April 6, 2024, there were 2 915 clinically suspected, and 1 059 laboratory confirmed cases of dengue fever in Barbados. This compares to the same period in 2023, when there were only 158 suspected cases, and 105 confirmed cases. 

The ministry reported that the current outbreak peaked in January, this year, and continued to decline in March. Although lower than February, numbers are still above the outbreak threshold for March. 

Health authorities have advised members of the public to implement measures to avoid contracting the illness, such as using repellent and wearing protective clothing; eliminating breeding sites by keeping their surroundings clean; and using protective window and door screens as well as mosquito nets, at home.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Wellness disclosed that there has been an increase in gastroenteritis cases in the past two weeks, in persons five years and older. It stated that this may be due to more people eating food which is prepared outside of the home. However, cases in children under five years old have not surpassed the threshold of the expected number during this time period. 

“Persons choosing to purchase ready-prepared food are encouraged to check for cleanliness and tidiness of the establishment, including the presence of handwashing facilities if the vendor is itinerant or at a wayside stall.  Patrons are reminded to wash or sanitise their hands prior to eating, after coughing or sneezing into tissues, and after using the toilet facilities,” the health ministry stated.

The public is reminded that hot foods are to be served hot, at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, and cold foods should be at 40 degrees Fahrenheit and below. Additionally, cooked and uncooked foods should always be separated.

As for respiratory cases, reports indicate that there was an increase in cases in persons five years and older up to April 6, this year, but levels in children under five years old continue to be low from the beginning of the year.

Influenza and other cough and cold viruses not confirmed may be contributing to the increase, the ministry said. COVID-19 infections remain very low, with no deaths recorded within the last month.

Health authorities encouraged Barbadians to practise stringent respiratory hygiene with use of hand washing, hand sanitising and mask wearing by those with symptoms or those vulnerable to severe disease. (BGIS)

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