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Amid the outbreak of dengue fever currently sweeping Jamaica, health experts are warning about the dangers of the mosquito-borne illness.

Jamaica’s Ministry of Health & Wellness announced the outbreak on Saturday. As of Friday, the country had recorded 565 suspected, presumed and confirmed cases of dengue. 

A majority of the confirmed cases in the Caribbean nation have been in Kingston, Saint Andrew, Saint Catherine and Saint Thomas.

Six deaths are being investigated, but they have not been confirmed as dengue-related.

JAMAICA DECLARES DENGUE FEVER OUTBREAK WITH HUNDREDS OF CONFIRMED AND SUSPECTED CASES

Dengue fever is caused by one of four different types of dengue viruses, according to Mayo Clinic's website.

The fever is spread by mosquito bites and cannot be transmitted directly from person to person.

Women who become infected while pregnant may spread the dengue virus to the baby during childbirth, however.

In rare cases, dengue fever can be transmitted through organ transplant, blood transfusion or needle stick injury, per the CDC.

Dengue occurs primarily in tropical and subtropical regions. 

Although it is most concentrated in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific Islands and Africa, it has been emerging in parts of Europe and the southern U.S., according to Mayo Clinic.

Up to 400 million people worldwide get infected with dengue each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Approximately 100 million people experience illness from the infection, and 40,000 die from severe effects.

In mild cases, dengue fever causes flu-like symptoms (nausea, vomiting, body aches) and high fever, Mayo Clinic states.

About one in 20 people will develop a more severe form, called dengue hemorrhagic fever.

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Symptoms of severe dengue include belly pain, frequent vomiting, bleeding from the nose or gums, fatigue, irritability, restlessness, and blood in vomit or stool, per the CDC website.

In these cases, symptoms can include serious bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure and organ damage, which can sometimes be fatal.

"On occasions, the illness can progress to severe dengue, which can result in organ failure as well as bleeding (hemorrhage), and severe fluid depletion that can lead to shock and death," Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie, chief medical officer of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health & Wellness, said in a statement on the Ministry of Health & Wellness website.

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"Persons experiencing fever, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, bleeding under the skin (petechial rash), feeling very weak or getting confused, are to seek immediate medical attention," she added.

Those who experience symptoms and have been in an area where dengue fever is common should see a health care provider right away, as severe effects can develop quickly, states the CDC.

Infected people should take acetaminophen for pain relief and fever control, drink hydrating fluids and rest, the agency said on its website.

A blood test is the only way to confirm dengue fever.

People who are infected with dengue fever develop long-term immunity to the type of virus that initially caused the infection, but they will still be susceptible to the other three types.

Those who have had dengue fever in the past are at a higher risk of contracting severe symptoms if they get it again, according to Mayo Clinic.

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In regions where dengue fever is prevalent, a vaccine called Dengvaxia is available to people between the ages of 9 and 45 who have previously been infected.

For people who have not previously had dengue fever, the vaccine has been shown to actually increase the risk of severe symptoms and hospitalization upon infection, Mayo Clinic states.

For those who cannot receive the vaccine, the best method of prevention is to protect against mosquito bites.

On its website, Mayo Clinic offers these recommendations for people who live in or travel to areas where dengue fever is common:

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. 

Jellyfish could be much smarter than scientists previously thought, asserts a new study published in the journal Current Biology.

Poisonous Caribbean box jellyfish can learn at a far more complex level than ever imagined, despite only having 1,000 nerve cells and no centralized brain, according to new research from the University of Copenhagen.

Scientists say their findings change the fundamental understanding of the brain — and could reveal more about human cognitive functions and the process of dementia.

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Jellyfish have been around for over 500 million years — yet until now, they've been thought of as simple creatures with very limited learning abilities.

The prevailing scientific opinion is that more advanced nervous systems equate with elevated learning potential in animals.

Jellyfish and their relatives, collectively known as cnidarians, are considered to be the earliest living animals to develop nervous systems.

Neurobiologist and professor Anders Garm has been researching box jellyfish — a group commonly known for being among the world's most poisonous creatures — for more than a decade, the study noted.

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The fingernail-sized species lives in Caribbean mangrove swamps; there, they use their impressive visual system, including 24 eyes, to hunt for tiny copepods (small crustaceans) among the roots, as SWNS reported on the background of the research.

Garm of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark said, "It was once presumed that jellyfish can only manage the simplest forms of learning, including habituation — the ability to get used to a certain stimulation, such as a constant sound or constant touch," according to SWNS.

"Now, we see that jellyfish have a much more refined ability to learn — and that they can actually learn from their mistakes… [and] modify their behavior."

One of the most advanced attributes of a nervous system, he said, is the ability to change behavior as a result of experience — to remember and learn.

As the tiny box jellyfish approach the mangrove roots, they turn and swim away. If they veer off too soon, they won’t have enough time to catch any copepods. Yet if they turn away too late, they risk bumping into the root and damaging their gelatinous bodies, the study noted.

Assessing distances is crucial for them, Garm said — and the research team discovered that contrast is the key.

"Our experiments show that contrast — how dark the root is in relation to the water — is used by the jellyfish to assess distances to roots, which allows them to swim away at just the right moment," he said, as SWNS noted.

"Even more interesting is that the relationship between distance and contrast changes on a daily basis due to rainwater, algae and wave action," the professor continued. "We can see that as each new day of hunting begins, box jellyfish learn from the current contrasts by combining visual impressions and sensations during evasive maneuvers that fail."

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"So, despite having a mere 1,000 nerve cells — our brains have roughly 100 billion — they can connect temporal convergences of various impressions and learn a connection, or what we call associative learning," Garm said. "And they actually learn about as quickly as advanced animals like fruit flies and mice."

The findings contradict previous scientific perceptions of what animals with simple nervous systems are capable of, the study indicated.

"For fundamental neuroscience, this is pretty big news," Garm said. "It provides a new perspective on what can be done with a simple nervous system."

"This suggests that advanced learning may have been one of the most important evolutionary benefits of the nervous system from the very beginning."

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The research also indicated where the learning is happening inside the box jellyfish. The team said the discovery has given them unique opportunities to study the precise changes that occur in a nerve cell when it's involved in advanced learning.

Said Garm, "We hope that this can become a supermodel system for looking at cellular processes in the advanced learning of all sorts of animals," as SWNS noted.

"We are now in the process of trying to pinpoint exactly which cells are involved in learning and memory formation," he said. 

"Upon doing so, we will be able to go in and look at what structural and physiological changes occur in the cells as learning takes place."

If the team is able to pinpoint the exact mechanisms involved in jellyfish's learning functions, the next step will be to find out whether those apply only to them or if they can be found in all animals, Garm noted.

"Understanding something as enigmatic and immensely complex as the brain is in itself an absolutely amazing thing," he said. "But there are unimaginably many useful possibilities."

"One major problem in the future will undoubtedly be various forms of dementia," he added, as SWNS also reported. 

"I don’t claim that we are finding the cure for dementia — but if we can gain a better understanding of what memory is, which is a central problem in dementia, we may be able to lay a building block to better understand the disease and perhaps counteract it."

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. 

Health officials in Jamaica have declared an outbreak of the dengue fever Saturday with at least 565 suspected, presumed and confirmed cases in the Caribbean nation. 

Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness says the outbreak comes as its National Surveillance Unit "advised that Jamaica has surpassed the dengue epidemic threshold for July and August and is on a trajectory to do the same for the month of September." 

"The dominant strain is Dengue Type 2, which last predominated in 2010," it said. "There are no dengue-related deaths classified at this time, however, six deaths are being investigated." 

Health officials say there currently are at least 78 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne disease in Jamaica. 

MOSQUITOS, FEARED FOR SPREADING DENGUE, NOW BEING BRED TO FIGHT THE DISEASE 

"Meanwhile, approximately 500 temporary vector control workers have been engaged and deployed across the island to high-risk communities along with 213 permanent workers," the Ministry of Health and Wellness also said. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says dengue viruses are "spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito." 

About one in four people infected will get sick, with mild symptoms including nausea, vomiting, rash, aches and pains, according to the CDC.

Recovery takes about a week. 

DENGUE FEVER CASES COULD REACH NEAR-RECORD HIGHS THIS YEAR 

Around 1 in 20 people infected will develop severe dengue, which the CDC says "can result in shock, internal bleeding, and even death." 

"The Ministry and Regional Health Authorities have made the necessary preparations for a possible outbreak," said Christopher Tufton, the Minister of Health in Jamaica. 

The Ministry is warning the public in Jamaica that the Aedes aegypti mosquito "breeds in any containerized environment" that can hold water, such as drums, tires, buckets and animal feeding containers. 

"Persons are urged to play their part in ensuring that the cases are minimized by monitoring water storage containers for mosquito breeding, keeping surroundings free of debris, destroying or treating potential mosquito breeding sites, wearing protective clothing, using mosquito repellent and, as much as possible, staying indoors at dusk with windows and doors closed," it also said. 

Santo Domingo.- The Vice Minister of Collective Health, Eladio Perez, has no fixed date for the dengue epidemic to decline. He thinks that the country is now facing a plateau. If there is no drop in cases, the disease affecting the Dominican Republic could continue its impact until the end of the year, according to infectologists.

The official has the perception that in the coming weeks if the current behavior continues, the disease could go down. He believes that there is a slight drop in patient admissions.

You can read Ariel Henry to the UN: “The Republic of Haiti is not at war with anyone.”

There will always be cases because the disease is endemic. The cessation of the high incidence will depend on the pattern; if it continues now, there will be fewer cases in the coming weeks, said the official who manages the country’s collective health.

“We need a little more time, if the disease continues to go down the country would be in improvement,” said the epidemiologist. In his opinion, the final phase of the disease cannot be determined by the behavior of a week.

Clinics to attend
The director of the National Health Service (SNS) hospital network, Yocasta Lara, asked the directors of the National Association of Private Clinics (Andeclip) to provide more beds.

In the public sector, the clinics refer patients to them, most of whom are under 19 years of age.

Almost all the cases are being attended by two large public hospitals and one of a patronage hospital.

The Hugo Mendoza pediatric hospital leads in admissions, followed by the Robert Reid Cabral and the General Hospital of the Plaza de la Salud in third place.

The Santiago Clinic, Unión Médica, and the Arturo Grullón hold the fourth place in the same city. The Jaime Mota de Barahona also has cases of children and adults.

Behavior
The end of this epidemic outbreak, as the authorities have called it, will depend on the behavior of the vector through which the disease is transmitted, the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The hospitals
Dr. Yocasta Lara, director of the SNS hospital network, reported yesterday on the number of patients admitted with dengue fever.

She also reported that the Robert Reid Cabral hospital had 64 children admitted. Three children remain in intensive care at this center.

The Marcelino Vélez Santana hospital has 21 admissions, the Juan Pablo Pina, 10, the Arturo Grullón, 13, and 12 at the San Lorenzo de Los Mina. Lara indicated that the Jaime Mota hospital in Barahona has 26 patients admitted: Jacinto Mañón, seven; El Almirante, six; Boca Chica, 19; and Félix María Goico, three admissions.

Plaza de la Salud
At the Plaza de la Salud General Hospital (HGPS), where many patients, mostly children, have been treated, 17 patients were admitted yesterday and are still waiting.

Santiago, DR.- The number of patients affected by dengue fever has increased among children in the last few days here, while among adults, the cases are sporadic and isolated, according to reports from the three most important public hospitals in this province.

Reports also indicate that private clinics continue to receive patients with symptoms of the disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The director of the children’s hospital, Dr. Arturo Grullon, Dr. Mirna Lopez, reported that this health center handles an average of 15 to 20 patients affected by dengue daily, experiencing a slight increase in emergency and outpatient consultations of febrile patients.

Dr. Mirna López, director of the children’s hospital, Dr. Arturo Grullón.

She said that of the total number of children admitted, only one is in intensive care, and his health remains stable. So far this year, two patients have died from the disease.

López explained that most of those affected by dengue come from different sectors of Santiago, such as Pueblo Nuevo, Cienfuegos, Jacagua, San José de Las Matas, as well as Montecristi and other towns of the Cibao region.

Meanwhile, in the hospitals José María Cabral y Báez and Presidente Estrella Ureña, the cases of dengue fever are sporadic. For example, at the Cabral y Baez hospital, there have been six cases of dengue in the last 15 days; 4 of them were admitted and subsequently sent home, according to the medical director, Manasés Peña.

Only two patients had been admitted to the Presidente Estrella Ureña Hospital recently.

President Estrella Ureña Hospital
On the other hand, the provincial authorities of Public Health informed that they continue the fumigation and cleaning up of garbage in various sectors of Santiago as a prevention against dengue fever and other diseases transmitted by vectors.

The cleaning activities, orientation, and education to combat dengue are conducted in schools, colleges, and neighborhood councils.

Dengue mosquito (External source)

Dengue mosquito (External source)

Corominas Clinic

At the Corominas clinic, one of the traditional private health centers in Santiago, there are currently 16 hospitalized patients, 2 of whom are in the intensive care unit, none of whom have died.

All U.S. states have an obesity rate among their residents of higher than 20%, which is at least one in five adults — and many exceed that.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published its 2022 Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps on Thursday, detailing obesity rates for the 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories.

The three states with the highest obesity prevalence among their residents were Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia, all of which had a 40% or higher rate.

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Nineteen states had obesity rates between 35% and 40%, the report said.

Twenty-two states ranged from 30% and 35% for obesity rates, up from 19 states in 2021. 

These included Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Regionally, the Midwest had the highest rates of obesity at 35.8%, followed by the Southern states (35.6%), the Northeast (30.5%) and the West (29.5%).

The report drew data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone interview survey conducted on an ongoing basis by CDC and individual state health departments.

"Our updated maps send a clear message that additional support for obesity prevention and treatment is an urgent priority," said Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, in a press release from the agency. 

"Obesity is a disease caused by many factors, including eating patterns, physical activity levels, sleep routines, genetics and certain medications," she went on.

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"However, we know the key strategies that work include addressing the underlying social determinants of health, such as access to health care, healthy and affordable food, and safe places for physical activity."

Obesity rates were based on the share of adults who had a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30 based on their self-reported weight and height.

There was a wide variance among individual ethnic groups.

Among non-Hispanic Black adults, 38 states saw obesity rates of 35% or higher.

For non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults, 33 states or territories had obesity rates of 35% or higher.

Hispanic adults had at least that level of obesity in 32 different states.

For non-Hispanic White adults, 14 states had 35% or higher obesity.

Non-Hispanic Asian adults did not have that rate in any state or territory.

People with higher levels of education were less likely to have obesity, the CDC found.

Adults without at least a high school diploma had the highest obesity rates, at 37.6%.

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Those with some college education had 35.9% obesity rates, followed by high-school graduates (35.7%) and college graduates (27.2%).

Young adults between 18 and 24 years old had the lowest obesity rate at 20.5%, while adults aged 45 to 54 had the highest rates (39.9%).

Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurologist and longevity expert, calls obesity a "gateway disease" to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and even Alzheimer’s — "the diseases that kill most Americans," he told Fox News Digital.

"Unlike [with] the COVID-19 pandemic, during which people were acutely ill — it was obvious — obesity kills you insidiously," Osborn said.

"Obesity is a primer for age-related disease and early death," he went on. "Being categorically obese is associated with a two- to 10-year reduction in life expectancy.

"This would translate to hundreds of thousands of years of life lost — in a single year — given the CDC’s reported increase in obesity incidence among Americans."

Medical costs related to obesity totaled nearly $173 billion in 2019, the CDC reported.

Said Osborn, "Unless we fix the obesity problem — and referring to it as a ‘problem’ is an understatement — the population en masse will be at an increasing risk for a reduced health span and foreshortened lifespan."

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. 

For Jacques, it was obvious she had to leave a housing situation that was putting her family’s health at risk. Black mold was growing on the walls of the trailer in which Jacques and her family had lived for five years. The mold caused everyone — Jacques, her husband, and her three younger daughters — to get more frequent headaches and stomachaches. It also impacted Jacques’ breathing because she is immune-compromised. “My ability to function as a normal human got worse and worse,” she said. Meanwhile, there were gaping holes in the trailer’s floor; Jacques fell through them in the bathroom twice.

Read the rest…

There are different causes of stroke, but the most common is a blockage of blood flow to part of the brain, which is called an ischemic stroke. 

Transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs — sometimes also called mini-strokes — are also ischemic attacks, but they only last for a few minutes before blood flow is restored. 

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That doesn’t mean they’re any less serious than a full-fledged stroke, though, noted Dr. Karishma Patwa, a cardiologist with Manhattan Cardiology, which provides cardiac testing and preventive treatment in New York.

Patwa shared with Fox News Digital the most important things to know about identifying and preventing mini-strokes. 

"Every second that the brain goes without oxygen increases the likelihood of serious and permanent brain damage," Patwa said. 

"Just like a stroke, a TIA deprives the brain of oxygen and should be treated with the same urgency."

There are several possible causes of a TIA. 

A clot could form in the brain itself, or a clot from another part of the body can break loose and make its way through the bloodstream until it becomes lodged in the brain, Patwa said. 

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"In order to best treat a TIA and prevent a future stroke, doctors will want to determine the exact cause of the TIA," the doctor said. 

"The longer a person goes without examination, the less likely doctors will be able to determine the cause, leading to a diagnosis of cryptogenic TIA — which means TIA of unknown origin."

Once someone has had a mini-stroke, the risk of having another stroke event is between 5% and 10% within the first seven days, Patwa warned.

"This number actually goes up to about 15% in the first month after a TIA and up to 35% over the course of a patient’s lifetime," she said. "That’s why early recognition and treatment of a TIA is extremely important — to prevent the more devastating complications of a large stroke."

The symptoms of a TIA are the same as symptoms of stroke, Patwa noted. 

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The symptoms can include:

"Symptoms tend to appear suddenly and without any obvious cause," Patwa said. 

"In the case of a TIA, the symptoms will last for less than a day, and often just a matter of minutes or even seconds, but it should still be treated as a medical emergency."

It’s important to act quickly as soon as the symptoms begin, she said.

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"At that time, there’s no way to know whether an ischemic attack will be transient or not. Don’t wait to find out — call 911 immediately," she advised.

The doctor recommends using the FAST acronym, a common tool for remembering symptoms and action steps when someone is suspected of having a stroke or TIA.

"It’s important to stress that someone who just experienced a TIA should not get behind the wheel of a car," Patwa also said. 

"Calling 911 and requesting an ambulance would be the best course of action, and in lieu of that, the closest responsible adult should drive the person to the emergency room," she added.

For people who have had a TIA, prompt diagnosis and aggressive treatment are the best route to an improved outlook, Patwa said.

"People who delay or refuse examination and treatment are much more likely to experience a stroke during the next 90 days."

In most cases, a mini-stroke is diagnosed with a physical and neurological examination, medical history and imaging tests such as an MRI, CT scan or X-ray. 

"Depending on what is found during diagnosis, a treatment plan could include medication, the use of stents, angioplasty or surgical procedures," said Patwa. 

"There are also steps a person can take to help prevent a TIA, or to help prevent a stroke after having a TIA," said Patwa.

These preventative steps can include:

People who are at risk for stroke or coronary artery disease are at higher risk for transient ischemic attacks, Patwa said.

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"This includes the elderly, smokers and patients with diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol," she noted. 

The highest risk factor for a TIA is a previous TIA or stroke, Patwa added.

"The most important thing is to not treat a TIA like a one-and-done anomaly," she said. 

"A TIA is a warning that a stroke is not only possible but likely, and in the near term."

She added, "Anyone suspected of experiencing a TIA should seek medical attention immediately."

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. 

The Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory could soon become a World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) detection and surveillance.

This was revealed by PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries (ECC) Dr Amalia Del Riego during the opening ceremony of a training workshop for laboratory technologists who work in public health laboratories in Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Haiti, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.

The workshop is taking place at the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory from September 19 to 22.

Entitled Training on Molecular Detection and Diagnosis of Carbapenemase Genes in Gram-Negative Bacteria, the training forms phase two of the Cooperation among Countries for Health Development (CCHD) project on AMR detection and surveillance.

WHO collaborating centres assist WHO support countries to build capacity to develop and implement AMR surveillance.

Dr Del Riego said of the training: “This and many other multi-country trainings that have happened just this year in the Best-dos Santos Laboratory demonstrate the interest this laboratory and the Government of Barbados have in fostering south-to-south collaboration. We hope this soon translates into Best-dos Santos becoming a WHO collaborating centre on AMR.

“We appreciate the support provided by the Government of Argentina in the past, and currently for antimicrobial resistance detection and surveillance across the Caribbean. We wish to acknowledge the support of Malbran Institute (Buenos Aires, Argentina), a WHO collaborating centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance,” she added.

Molecular training provides countries with the capacity to diagnose AMR, one of the most important emerging threats. The training involves the detection of disease-causing organisms which are virtually resistant to all known antibiotics.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George reiterated that AMR training is a priority for Barbados, noting that AMR diseases are becoming more prevalent.

He therefore thanked the Government of Argentina for continuing support for training. 

“Your support, both technically and financially, through the Malbran Institute is designed to support and promote antimicrobial stewardship across the Caribbean,” Dr George said.

The CMO recalled that in 2019, the World Health Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for continued high-level commitments to implement multisectoral national action plans. 

“Barbados is in the process of developing a framework to achieve this goal,” he said.

Dr George also expressed his appreciation to PAHO for providing its technical expertise to the Best-dos Santos Public Health Laboratory. 

PAHO was credited with providing influenza surveillance and laboratory testing support, “with a view to establishing the Best-dos Santos Laboratory as a recognised influenza testing site in the subregion”. 

Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Barbados, Vanesa Romani, recounted that in 2018 Argentina, PAHO and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) signed a commitment establishing the Cooperation among Countries for Health Development (CCHD) project. This made it possible for two technicians from the Best-dos Santos Laboratory to attend training in Argentina.

Romini said the training received has improved the ability to deal with emergencies. (PR)

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