Westmoreland Aedes index falls across April-to-June period

ST JAMES, Jamaica — Over the last three months, the Westmoreland Health Department has tracked a consistent drop in the parish’s Aedes index, Medical Officer of Health Dr Marcia Graham told the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation at its latest monthly sitting.

The index captures the share of checked homes or other premises found with Aedes aegypti breeding. It stood at 10.4 per cent in April, eased to 9.6 per cent in May, and was down further to 8.4 per cent by the close of June.

Dr Graham said the movement was encouraging and pressed the public not to ease off efforts that curb dengue and other illnesses spread by mosquitoes.

“So, we are thankful but we do know that all it takes is for a shower of rain, new breeding sites to be created and complacency on the part of our fellow citizens for this trend to go back in the wrong direction,” she said.

She asked householders and others to run weekly “search and destroy” checks at homes, worksites and churches or other worship spaces so breeding spots are cleared. She also recommended covering bare skin, especially in the early morning and at dusk, and relying on insect repellent, bed nets and screened windows.

Vector-control crews, she noted, are still concentrating on communities judged high-risk and on localities tied to suspected mosquito-borne cases.

Separately, Dr Graham said laboratory results showed that four deaths in Westmoreland this year that had been linked to possible dengue or leptospirosis tested negative for both infections. She called on residents to keep backing the vector-control teams as the parish seeks to stay clear of dengue and leptospirosis.