(Jamaica Observer) The Ministry of Health says there have been six confirmed deaths from dengue fever as at February 8.
Five of those deaths occurred in Kingston & St Andrew and one in Portland. All the victims are children under the age of 14 years old.
This was disclosed by Portfolio Minister Dr Christopher Tufton in an update to Parliament this afternoon.
Tufton said his ministry has since February 8, classified 1,166 suspected, presumed, or confirmed dengue cases with dates of onset in 2019, while there were 1,023 suspected and confirmed cases in 2018.
“The weekly number of cases appears to be plateauing, while we need to wait for another two to three weeks to be sure, this is an encouraging sign,” he told the House.
The minister said that the largest number of suspected/presumed/confirmed dengue cases for 2019 to date was notified from St Catherine, with 313 people.
This is followed by Kingston and St Andrew, with 177; St Ann 121; St Mary 75; St Thomas six; St James 54 and Clarendon 49.
