By Caribbean Medical News Staff
Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Dr. James Hospedales has refuted claims that CARPHA has stopped testing for chikungunya disease. In fact, he insists that CARPHA is committed to testing for the presence of any suspected cases contrary to reports in the Trinidad media.
Hospedales said that the organization sticks to the principle of testing based on surveillance best practices and that once people have been diagnosed in a particular area, the tests are carried out based on a set of criteria which are as follows:
1. Testing in affected areas of countries which are new to CARPHA, to confirm that the virus is present and circulating in that community;
2. People who are severely ill and hospitalized;
3. Pregnant mothers who are suspected of having the disease.
Hospedales also said that where Dengue fever is tested as positive, it is unlikely that the individual will also be positive for chikungunya and thus, it is unnecessary to test each and every case. He did however reiterate that CARPHA continues to test for chikungunya.
The CARICOM agency is also partnering with regional airlines like LIAT and Caribbean Airlines which are responsible for transporting specimens for testing in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
CARPHA is the only Agency in the English-speaking Caribbean that tests for the presence of chikungunya.
The disease has an incubation period of 3 -10 days and causes debilitating join and muscle pain along with fever, headache, rash and nausea.
