Health Ministry: Get your flu shot before you fete

Before you fete get your flu shot, the Ministry of Health has advised.

“People engaging in Carnival activities like fetes and bands are at a greater risk of exposure to influenza due to large groups in close contact,” chief medical officer Dr Roshan Parasram told Newsday yesterday.

Another potential complication to the spread of the flu virus, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh noted, was the increase in North American visitors for the season. The US is currently in the midst of one the worst influenza epidemics since the Centres for Disease Control, a US government agency, started keeping records of the spread of the virus. At least 30 children have died, US media outlets have reported.

“Get vaccinated,” Deyalsingh implored, adding that while there were eight flu-related deaths in 2015, since then, there have been none, and he was concerned about people’s complacency that this was not something to take seriously. He was particularly concerned about the number of healthcare workers who have not been vaccinated.

“I don’t want someone to die before there is a rush to get vaccinated,” he said. The Ministry has made 70,000 vaccines available free to the public at 33 health centres across the country. So far, Deyalsingh said, only 8,000 people have gotten their shots.

The next big public health concern for the Carnival season is sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted preganancies. “We are asking people to exercise responsibility,” he said.

Parasram added that the Ministry was also looking at food safety, food borne illnesses and leptospirosis, as well as working with the Environmental Management Authority to raise awareness of excessive noise levels.