“Deaths
from Chikungunya are very rare and usually occur in persons with other
illnesses, especially chronic illnesses. The death rate from Chikungunya is
less than one per cent compared to Dengue, which is one to five per cent and
Influenza, which kills millions each year. In 2012, we had a total of 5,929
suspected Dengue cases and in 2013 we had 925 cases”
Minister of Health Dr.
Fenton Ferguson during a televised broadcast on Sunday September 28th
2014 regarding concerns about the Chikungunya Virus Epidemic
Minister
of Health Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has finally come clean: Jamaica is now
experiencing a Chikungunya Virus Epidemic as stated in the article “Health
minister's admission on Chikungunya epidemic is only a first step, says
Opposition”, published Monday, September 29, 2014 6:07 AM, The Jamaica Observer.
Minister
of Health Dr. Fenton Ferguson admitted as much during a televised broadcast on Sunday
September 28th 2014 on Love TV and PCBJ at 7:00pm, CVM TV at 9:30pm, Television Jamaica at 10:30pm as
well as on Irie, RJR and Nationwide
FM at 7:00pm as stated in the article “Health
minister to address nation on Chikungunya tonight”, published Sunday,
September 28, 2014 9:37 AM, The
Jamaica Observer and “Health minister
to outline plans to combat Chik V”, Published Sunday September 28, 2014
10:36 am, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
He
has effectively redeemed himself in rather clever fashion, using statistics,
the main reason for me doing article on the Chikungunya Virus Epidemic in the
first place. After all, he’s a dentist and JLP Opposition spokesman on Health
Dr. Kenneth Baugh is a Surgeon. NEITHER doctor has a specialized training in Virology
or Epidemiology, which would give them a handle on the spread of infectious
diseases like the Chikungunya Virus!
 |
He
also by this National Broadcast killed any political advantage that the JLP may
have garnered at his expense by simply admitting that the official numbers may
not reflect the reality on the ground as noted in the article “Health
minister's admission on Chikungunya epidemic is only a first step, says
Opposition”, published Monday, September 29, 2014 6:07 AM, The Jamaica Observer.
In
fact, he spun it around and implored Jamaicans to do their part to prevent the
spread of the Chikungunya Virus by destroying their breeding sites created by
containers holding stagnant water i.e. ANY water be it piped or otherwise
that’s allowed to settle and isn’t flowing as stated in the article “Health
minister asks country to help fight Virus”, published Monday, September 29,
2014, The Jamaica Observer.
Well,
there goes the Winter Tourism dollars and the Money for Gully and Drain
Cleaning, traditional Christmas work, out the window as I’d speculated in my blog article
entitled “31
infected during Jamaican Chikungunya Virus Epidemic - 113 Deaths in the
Caribbean as Jamaica grapples with Chikungunya Virus Outbreak”.
Ok,
so now we know that the Chikungunya Virus is now a “full-blown epidemic” as JLP
Opposition spokesman on Health Dr. Kenneth Baugh pointed out on Friday
September 26th 2014 in the article “Baugh:
Chikungunya now a full blown epidemic”, Friday, September 26, 2014, The Jamaica Observer, what can we
really do?
Jamaica’s Chikungunya Virus
Epidemic – Blood Transfusions inoculate Jamaica by 60%
So
how bad is this Chikungunya Virus Epidemic really?
According
to Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Kevin Harvey during an interview with Dionne
Jackson-Miller on All Angles on Wednesday September 24th, 2014, the
Chikungunya Virus may affect 30% to 60% of Jamaica's before everyone develops
antibody immunity to the disease as reported in the article “Up
to 60% of Jamaican population could eventually be affected by Chikungunya -
health official”, Thursday September 25, 2014 12:06 pm, RJR Communications Group.
That’s
basically 800,000 and 1.6 million Jamaicans! I, however, agree with these
figures.
With
Blood Drives and Blood Transfusions ongoing, albeit halted due to the
phlebotomists involved themselves falling ill as stated in the article “No
significant impact of chikungunya on blood supply, says ministry”,
published Tuesday, September 30, 2014 BY
ANIKA RICHARDS Observer staff
reporter, The Jamaica Observer
, if 60% become infected, it’ll allow persons to become immune.
Transfusions
will naturally contain antibodies and also antigens from the Chikungunya Virus.
This will allow persons to absorb antibodies or even antigens from other
persons previously infected by the Chikungunya Virus. Thus, by accident,
National Blood Transfusion Service is slowly “immunizing”, really inoculating
Jamaicans against future strains of the Chikungunya Virus.
Best
of all, once you’ve been infected once, you’ll develop immunities that’ll last
you a lifetime and that you can pass on to your children.
The
real danger is still Dengue Fever, as Minister of Health Dr. Fenton Ferguson
rightly asserted during his nationwide televised broadcast on Sunday September
28th 2014.
Jamaican Perception of
Chikungunya – Journalists portray it as a Ghetto people Disease
This
is the part where I have some fun with this Chikungunya Virus Epidemic!
For
starters, there is a perception being portrayed in the Jamaican media that this
Chikungunya Virus Epidemic afflicts only the poor living in ghetto communities,
both in Kingston and St. Andrew and other parishes that have officially
reported Chikungunya Virus cases.
 |
Case
to point is this story on the community of Seaview Gardens, where the majority
of its community members are showing symptoms of the Chikungunya Virus as noted
in the article “Chik-V haven
- Seaview among areas hardest hit by Virus”, Published Tuesday September
30, 2014, by Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.
In
my blog article
entitled “31
infected during Jamaican Chikungunya Virus Epidemic - 113 Deaths in the
Caribbean as Jamaica grapples with Chikungunya Virus Outbreak”, most of the
communities mentioned that are experiencing the Chikungunya Virus are in rural
St. Thomas and Portmore, another enclave of the not-so-wealthy aka Upwardly
mobile Ghetto people!
So
JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) Caretaker for St Thomas Eastern, Delano Seiveright
was right.
He’s
even more insistent that St. Thomas may be the REAL Ground-Zero, seeing as that
part of the Jamaica has the most landing of illegal Haitians immigrants who
probably were the first to carry the disease to Jamaica in the first place as
stated in the article “St Thomas is
ground zero for Chikungunya, says Seiveright”, published Friday September
26, 2014 12:37 pm by Karlene Brown, Assistant News Editor - Radio, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Truth
be told, I’ve yet heard of any cases within the Corporate Area that are
associated with an affluent Uptown communities like Cherry Gardens or even
Beverley Hills being reported by The
Jamaica Gleaner, The Jamaica
Observer, CVM TV or even the great Television Jamaica that claims to
have supposedly award-winning Journalists!
Come
to think of it, how come no journalists working at The Jamaica Gleaner, The Jamaica Observer, CVM TV or even the great Television Jamaica has written any
personal accounts of their OWN Chikungunya Virus symptoms? Are they somehow
living a better life and thus being of a higher socio-economic standing
unlikely to get the disease?
Even
in the parishes listed, it’s mainly persons living in the no-so-upscale parts
of those parishes that are experiencing the Chikungunya Virus, making it appear
to be a poor people’s disease:
1.
Kingston
2.
Portland
3.
St Andrew
4.
St Ann
5.
St Catherine
6.
St Mary
7.
St Thomas
The
truth is classism has all to do with it. Uptowners can afford to buy DEET and
Citronella Candles at ANY price it’s sold, even as high as JA$500. Their
price-unconsciousness making it a great product to produce in Jamaica by the
way as noted in my Geezam blog article
entitled “How
to make Environmentally Friendly Citronella (Lemon Grass) Oil for Mosquito
Repellant Lotion and Candles”.
I
have to think TWICE before spending even JA$200 to buy just foods to survive
while at the MICO University College.
I still have a little bottle of Citronella Lotion which I had to be using
sparingly in order for it to not run out.
Also,
most Jamaicans who aren’t wealthy uptowners, wary of high electricity bills,
aren’t too keen on using electric Vape mats. So the Destroyer becomes their
weapon of choice against Mosquitoes, often resulting in long-term respiratory
problems, despite there being alternative ways of killing Mosquitoes as pointed
out in my blog
article entitled “Minister
of Health calls for Public Support for ban on Smoking in Public Spaces - How to
kill Mosquitoes using a Carbon Dioxide Generator Mosquito Trap”
Chikungunya Virus
Conspiracy debunked - Aedes aegypti Mosquito
doesn’t know day from night
Then
there are the conspiracy theories that make no sense. Persons are insisting
that the Chikungunya Virus is airborne, even an American Biological weapon
being tested on Jamaica as stated in the article “CHIK-V
NONSENSE”, Published Sunday September 28, 2014 by Erica Virtue, Senior
Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.
Some even dispute how it travels so far and infects so many!
 |
Many
Jamaicans they can’t see how the Aedes
aegypti Mosquito, which they claim they’re been told is a “day biting” Mosquito,
could’ve given them the disease, as they don’t remember being bitten.
Alas,
a foible of words due to poor understanding of logic in English as well as
Insect Biology.
Day
Biting means that the Aedes aegypti Mosquito,
a vector for the Dengue Fever Virus also, is mainly active during the daytime,
the female Aedes aegypti Mosquito
bites victims to extract their blood for nutrients for itself and its next litter
of Mosquito eggs which it has to lay in still, stagnant water.
Insects,
as a rule, have no active perception of day or night or even days of the year.
After all they’re creatures of instinct; they don’t keep calendars or time
their days of operation by a wristwatch. They rise to be active when the
conditions are favorable for them to do the main thing that they do; reproduce.
However,
if the area that the people lie in is constantly lit with lighting, has a lot
of noise due to human activity in the night as well as in the daytime and is
rich in Carbon Dioxide, the main signature the female Aedes aegypti Mosquito uses to locate its prey, then this “day
biting” Mosquito, which has no active perception of day or night, will also be active
at night.
To
them, those little lights are as bright as the Sun and the moon is just the Sun
only dimmer. But more of these artificial streetlights confuse the Mosquito,
making them perceive that daytime has really just gotten a little close to the
ground on a tall pole or stick in the case of a streetlamp.
This
as the female Aedes aegypti Mosquito can’t
get to sleep, as it would usually do in the night in the wild, where is quiet
at nights.
Constant
agitation from our noisy and ever moving Jamaica keeps it active. As such
inside of communities that are well lit and noisy with human activity, it may
well assume that it’s still daytime. After all, insects, such as moths and Mosquitoes,
are known to be attracted to streetlamps and lights inside of buildings at
night.
They
take advantage of this light and upon finding dwellings where humans are active,
agitated noisy and still active at night as if in the day time e.g. Portmore,
they take a bite, usually of persons who are fast asleep, as they are easier
targets!
Many
Jamaicans probably got infected overnight. The rest probably gotten bitten in
real Daytime hours when the Sun was shining (note the distinction) but couldn’t
recall, as no matter how good your memory may be, you can’t recall every time
you’re bitten. And in biting, they can infect you with BOTH the Chikungunya Virus
and the Dengue Fever Virus.
Travelling
on buses and taxis is a trick they’re easily mastered; buses have sections in
them where the air is fairly still and damp such as the undercarriage as well
as on the top of the vehicle. They don’t need to travel on airplanes; once a
victim is bitten by an infected Aedes
aegypti Mosquito, they can carry the Virus internationally before showing
signs of being ill.
By
the time the Ministry of Health in that country identifies them as an imported
case, even while waiting in the airport checkout lounge, they may be bitten by
yet another Aedes aegypti Mosquito.
They then pass this infection on via biting other in the airport…and so it
spreads!
Panadol and Vitamin C –
Acetominophen in other products and Vitamin C in Drinks
This
Chikungunya Virus epidemic is not only affecting our workforce with its crippling
effect and itchy rash, it’s also depleting our pharmacies of brand name drugs.
Panadol and Vitamin C is no in short supply in Portmore, with many pharmacies
reporting shortages of these most popular drugs used to treat the symptoms of
the Chikungunya Virus as stated in the article “Chik-V hits
crisis proportions”, published Sunday September 28, 2014, by Gareth Davis
Jr, Sunday Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
 |
Taj
Pharmacy in Portmore burned through their consignment of Panadol and Vitamin C
in three days. The amount consumed is staggering or a handsome profit,
depending on how you look at it:
1.
10,000 tablets of Panadol packaged in
100 boxes
2.
1,000 boxes of Vitamin C tablets
This
is the same across all pharmacies in Portmore alone, making it appear that the
people are eating Panadol and Vitamin C for lunch, breakfast and dinner.
Ironically, acetaminophen as
the Americans and Japan call it or Paracetamol as our Europeans refer to it, is
present in a variety of other products aside from Panadol as listed in the
article Common
Medicines with Acetaminophen
1.
Actifed®
2.
Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels®
3.
Anacin®
4.
Cepacol®
5.
Contac®
6.
Coricidin®
7.
Dayquil®
8.
Dimetapp®
9.
Dristan®
10.
Excedrin®
11.
Feverall®
12.
Formula 44®
13.
Goody’s® Powders
14.
Liquiprin®
15.
Midol®
16.
Nyquil®
17.
Panadol®
18.
Robitussin®
19.
Saint Joseph® Aspirin-Free
20.
Singlet®
21.
Sinutab®
22.
Sudafed®
23.
Theraflu®
24.
Triaminic®
25.
TYLENOL® Brand Products
26.
Vanquish®
27.
Vicks®
28.
Zicam®
Equally
troubling is the cost to diagnose yourself as having the Chikungunya Virus
despite the fact that there is no cure for illness as stated in the article “Cost
of Chik-V test a deterrent”, published Monday, September 29, 2014 BY OPAL CLARKE Observer writer, The Jamaica Observer.
JA$10,000
to pay for a private test, according to JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) Opposition
Spokesman on Health Dr Kenneth Baugh as echoed in my blog article
entitled “Jamaican
Chikungunya Virus cover-up - JA$10,000 for Chikungunya Virus Test as Tropical
Storm Edouard boost Aedes aegypti Mosquito”. That’s a lot of corn, man,
roughly the cost of my Miscellaneous fees at the MICO University College for which I
receive no actual benefit and gain no actual usage!
According
to the latest stats, the number of Chikungunya Virus cases in Jamaica now
stands at 35 as stated in the article “Cost
of Chik-V test a deterrent”, published Monday, September 29, 2014 BY OPAL CLARKE Observer writer, The Jamaica Observer.
Good
to note that Director, Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services, Dr
Marion Bullock DuCasse has stopped talking, as the numbers game is no longer
working on Jamaicans now showing symptoms of the Chikungunya Virus that they
can readily diagnose themselves as noted in the article “Chik-V
'numbers game' over”, published Friday September 26, 2014, The Jamaica Gleaner.
 |
And
as the article rightly quotes the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) Opposition
Spokesman on Health Dr Kenneth Baugh as he tries to gain more political
mileage, the cost of the Chikungunya Virus is so high that many decide to not
bother, becoming their own doctor’s by diagnosing and treating themselves.
The Jamaica Observer made it a point
to check the actual prices for a Chikungunya Virus and reported these figures
1.
JA$3,600 at Andrews Memorial Hospital
2.
JA$8,000 at the UHWI (University
Hospital of the West Indies)
No more blame game –
Support MOH or face problems with Dengue Fever and Ebola Virus
So
I've decided to stop blaming Minister of Health Dr. Fenton Ferguson for his
little cover-up. instead, I’ve decided to do a little study in virology and
epidemiology on my own as I have a funny feeling that a bigger storm is brewing
in the form of the Ebola Virus as noted in my blog article
entitled “Trinidad
PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar's CARICOM Meeting - Preventing Caribbean Chikungunya
Virus and Ebola Virus Epidemic by Christmas 2014”.
 |
The
Chikungunya Virus, statistically speaking, has a low mortality rate compared to
Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever is also a Virus that the Aedes aegypti Mosquito is known to carry. Thus I must be a part of
the solution, thereby making it necessary for me to dispense his advice in
order to rally Jamaica to help rid the country of their breeding sites and
reduce it spread:
1.
Close your windows and doors and cover
them with Screens
2.
place babies under mosquito nets to prevent
them from being bitten by mosquitoes
3.
Use mosquito repellents on exposed skin
such as DEET or Citronella Oil
4.
Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
5.
Covering empty standing outdoor water
containers
6.
Get rid of all water where mosquitoes
can breed
And
finally as a plug for myself, along with drugs that contain acetaminophen,
you can also use my herbal remedy for the Chikungunya Virus as described in my blog article
entitled “How
to fight Illness including Chikungunya Virus using Spices - US$40 Joseph Joseph
SpiceStore Carousel helps you organize”.
Add
to that Guinea Hen Weed (Petiveria Alliacea )
to remove any symptoms of the arthritic pains as explained in my blog article
entitled “Guinea
Hen Weed Cures Arthritic Symptoms of the Chikungunya Virus - Minister of Health
International PR Cover-Up to protect Tourism Market”
This
as the stronger our immune system, they better able you’ll be to defend
yourself against the Chikungunya Virus and the quicker you’ll be back on your
feet.
Folks,
that's money for testing for the Chikungunya Virus is basically my spending
money I have budgeted for the month at the MICO
University College, as I'm trying to get my Professional Diploma in
Teaching, basically a B.ED in the next 2 years the cheapest way I can!
But
are there more effective treatments for the Chikungunya Virus? And what are the
positive benefits of this Chikungunya Virus outbreak? More importantly has
anyone died yet from the Chikungunya Virus in Jamaica? And what about the
Caribbean and the rest of Latin America?
More
on this in another article as I plan to visit SERHA
(South East Regional Health Authority) to ask some questions!
