TCI Health records increase in Dengue cases

Dana Malcolm

Staff writer

#TurksandCaicos, January 19, 2024 – An uptick in confirmed dengue cases is what the Ministry of Health and Human Services is reporting in their first update since November 2023.

“Since the beginning of the dengue outbreak in the TCI, the MOH has identified 172 cases of dengue. These cases include cases confirmed through testing at the Caribbean Public Health Laboratory (90) as well as cases identified locally through the use of dengue rapid tests,” a January 3 update said.

The update came after weeks of requesting statistics, and reports of hundreds of cases from residents. The first case had been recorded on October 17, and the outbreak was declared on November 15th.

During that month, 13 confirmed and 74 suspected cases were recorded, a total of 87.

In the month and a half since then, 85 more suspected and confirmed cases have been reported. Based on the shared MoHHS data, 77 of those (90 minus the initial 13) were confirmed cases, leaving only 8 suspected cases.

The MoHHS did not explain the significant drop in suspected cases vs the significant increase in confirmed cases.

They did indicate where the cases are distributed; 167 were in Providenciales and five in Grand Turk.

“Dengue virus types were established for 76 out of the 90 laboratory-confirmed cases. Seventy-four (74) laboratory-confirmed cases were type 3 and 2 were type 2 Dengue. Type 3 dengue is associated with more severe disease,” the update revealed.

A total of 18 persons with dengue have been hospitalized. Thankfully there have been no reports of any dengue-related deaths.