Dengue fever occurred at 16 in the country

According to the Ministry of Health, the number of presumed dengue deaths in Jamaica since 2018 now stands at 16.

Eleven deaths occurred in 2018 and five since the beginning of 2019.

Dr. Jacquiline Bissasor-McKenzie, Chief Medical Officer, made the point in a speech on the radio Friday afternoon.

According to the CMO, as of January 17, Jamaica had 931 suspected dengue cases in 2018, compared to 830 previously.

"For 2019, we have 174 suspected cases and five suspected dengue deaths," said Bissasor-McKenzie.

Among the deaths, there have been several children, and figures from the Ministry of Health suggest that young people are disproportionately affected by the mosquito-borne disease.

The CMO revealed that 12 suspected dengue-related deaths occurred in children aged 14 and under. Three occurred in the 25-59 age group.

At the same time, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) on Thursday urged health authorities in the region to prepare for the possibility of a severe dengue outbreak.

This decision followed a warning issued by CARPHA in May of last year.

In a statement, CARPHA noted that the last major dengue fever outbreak in the region occurred in 2009.

"Since then, the region has experienced two major outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases, Chikungunya in 2014 and Zika in 2016, which are not expected to recur soon," said the regional body.

CARPHA added that "disease modeling predicts that another regional dengue epidemic may occur in the near future".

The agency said in 2018 that Latin America had shown an increase in the number of dengue cases.

The regional body also discussed the ongoing dengue epidemic in Jamaica, pointing out that this had increased the level of concern in other Caribbean islands.