Dr Sheena Francis, senior lecturer and research fellow at the Natural Products Institute at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, is researching countermeasures that Jamaica can employ against the growing Aedes aegypti mosquito population, which is responsible for the spread of dengue fever. Speaking on October 26 at the Science for Today public lecture series organised by the Faculty of Science and Technology at The UWI, Francis noted how the Aedes aegypti mosquito has become highly adapted to the wet and dry seasons as well as other environmental conditions in Jamaica. At the online event which facilitated discussions under the theme ‘Killing the Buzz: The Fight against Dengue and Other Mosquito-borne Diseases’, she further stated that because of this, mosquitoes have become the dominant vectors of dengue and were only in need of roughly a cap full of water to lay their eggs and increase their population. According to her, the rate at which mosquitoes develop decreases with rising temperatures. This means that a mosquito’s usual development period of 14 days is sometimes shortened to nine days. On September 23, the health ministry declared a dengue virus outbreak in the country. As of November 1, Jamaica recorded 2,763 suspected, presumed, and confirmed dengue cases. Of the cases classified, 694 were confirmed, with dengue type two continuing to be the dominant strain. At the same time, there were two confirmed at seven suspected dengue-related deaths.

 Photo caption: Dr Sheena Francis examining samples at the Mosquito Control and Research Unit at The UWI, Mona.

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