Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Local doctor says Zika virus is here
But health ministry again denies claim
Friday, October 23, 2015
CONSULTANT congenital cardiologist Dr Sandra Williams-Phillips says she has treated at least 12 cases of the feared mosquito-borne zika virus (ZIK-V) and that she has written to Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson on the matter.
...
The medical doctor of 34 years said she was among the first local doctors to identify the presence of the chikungunya virus, which wreaked havoc on the country last year, but that her diagnoses had not been taken seriously.
Dr Williams-Phillips, who treats paediatric as well as adult cases of congenital heart disease, said some of her patients who presented symptoms of the Zika virus were children.
She argued strongly that the symptoms she had seen were convincing enough to diagnose the virus even in the absence of lab tests.
Late yesterday afternoon, on another radio programme, chief medical officer (CMO) in the health ministry, Dr Marion Bullock Ducasse, said the ministry would be launching an investigation into the matter. She said that, even if the patients had recovered, tests could still prove whether they had in fact been infected with the virus.
...
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Local-doctor-says-Zika-virus-is-here_19234987
But health ministry again denies claim
Friday, October 23, 2015
CONSULTANT congenital cardiologist Dr Sandra Williams-Phillips says she has treated at least 12 cases of the feared mosquito-borne zika virus (ZIK-V) and that she has written to Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson on the matter.
...
The medical doctor of 34 years said she was among the first local doctors to identify the presence of the chikungunya virus, which wreaked havoc on the country last year, but that her diagnoses had not been taken seriously.
Dr Williams-Phillips, who treats paediatric as well as adult cases of congenital heart disease, said some of her patients who presented symptoms of the Zika virus were children.
She argued strongly that the symptoms she had seen were convincing enough to diagnose the virus even in the absence of lab tests.
Late yesterday afternoon, on another radio programme, chief medical officer (CMO) in the health ministry, Dr Marion Bullock Ducasse, said the ministry would be launching an investigation into the matter. She said that, even if the patients had recovered, tests could still prove whether they had in fact been infected with the virus.
...
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Local-doctor-says-Zika-virus-is-here_19234987