Jamaica: 10-year-old dies from chikungunya complications.

Jamaica: 10-year-old dies from chikungunya complications. HT: Crof.

Chikungunya continues to spread in the Caribbean. The Jamaicans are taking it especially badly, and have invented their own term for it. Via the Jamaica Observer: 10-year-old dies from ChikV complications.

A 10-year-old student of the Alpha Primary School in Kingston died Friday as a result of complications brought on by the chikungunya virus, the Education Ministry has confirmed. 

A ministry release Friday afternoon said that Akaliah Anderson, who had reported to school for only one day (September 1, 2014), had revealed symptoms of the chikungunya virus. 

It was reported that her condition had not improved and she was subsequently admitted to the hospital. She reportedly developed further complications including a swollen spleen and liver. 

Little Akaliah died Friday. 

The Education Ministry said it was saddened by Akaliah’s death and extended condolences to her family and school community.  

A team of counsellors from the ministry will be providing emotional support to Akaliah’s family, students, teachers and administrative staff at the institution, the release said. 

“This incident brings into sharp focus the need for school administrators, parents and the entire citizenry of Jamaica to begin the clean-up process in our communities – home, school, workplaces – in order to eliminate the spread of the ChikV caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes,” Education Minister Ronald Thwaites said.

Hmmm....I've been posting quite a bit about Chikungunya these last months because i see a huge threat to the US, when this arrives in the US Wetlands. More on chik-V here and here.

Update:

PAHO: Almost 800,000 chikungunya case as of October 17 (it says here)

The Pan American Health Organization has posted its regular Friday update on chikungunya in the Caribbean and neighboring nations. 

We are now up to epidemiological week 42, but some countries are weeks if not months behind. If not for Ebola taking all the attention, this would be a big scandal.


The regional total is 759,742 suspected cases, plus 12,327 confirmed, plus 1,708 imported. But the Dominican Republic is still at week 38 (486,306 suspected cases, just 84 confirmed). Next door, Haiti hasn't bothered to report since week 28, so we know of only 64,695 cases when the true number must be closer to a million.

So it goes, week after week with no explanation. Download the PDF if you like, but don't bother to print it out. Paper is more valuable.