There are several things that the Ministry of Health has to do immediately to allay the fear of a wide spread malarial outbreak in The Bahamas: The message has to go out forcefully that malaria is not endemic in The Bahamas, that it is not transmitted through human-to-human contact, and that it can only be transmitted through the bite of a female anopheles mosquito. And then, if that species of mosquito does not turn up in a trap that the ministry has set, it must be emphatically stated there is no presence of that mosquito in The Bahamas.
But the government can only do that if it can state categorically how such a large number of persons in Exuma came to be infected. At this point in time the authorities are not saying if any of the inflicted people being treated for the disease were found among the growing immigrant population in Exuma, but it cannot be downplayed that Haiti is an at risk country from which thousands of people travel to The Bahamas, sometimes under adverse conditions. And it should also be noted that with the onset of the hurricane season, with rainfall becoming more frequent, the chances of the anopheles mosquito being active in those at risk countries, become magnified.
So Bahamians have to be told emphatically how this disease is transmitted, its incubation period, and the fact that people travelling in at risk countries usually transport it. The media certainly cannot be accused of sensationalisation if the initial disclosure from the authorities was one case, and everything is under control, and then there were 12, which quickly jumped to 16.
Good communications is key at this point and seeing is still believing. It can’t help matters when the island’s parliamentary representative can stand up in Parliament and deny the government’s claim and state that no fogging had taken place in the island since the discovery was made. It could have been good if the Director of Public Health was in a position to insist that fogging had been done and is ongoing, rather than having to specify the treated areas.
According to information from the Centre for Disease Control website, the people most vulnerable to malaria are those with no or little protective immunity against the disease. In areas with high transmission (such as Africa south of the Sahara), the most vulnerable groups are:
* Young children, who have not yet developed immunity to malaria
* Pregnant women, whose immunity is decreased by pregnancy, especially during the first and second pregnancies,
* Travellers or migrants coming from areas with little or no malaria transmission, who lack immunity.
In areas with lower transmission (such as Latin America and Asia), residents are less frequently infected. Many persons may reach adult age without having built protective immunity and are thus susceptible to the disease.
We are concerned that the world outside could get the wrong message through a lack of proper information being given by the authorities. It is better, and less costly, to give good information the first time, rather than having to come behind with damage control.
This excellent editorial is from the Freeport News
