Health care professionals say there is no correlation between the current outbreak of dengue fever and COVID-19 in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Roger Duncan, the medical officer of health said this week that COVID-19 rapid testing is being done for people who present with dengue fever to check whether they have COVID-19 antibodies.
“We haven’t found any…we have been looking and we will continue to look…” Duncan said during VC3’s Round Table Talk programme on Wednesday evening, noting that COVID-19 can present in many different ways.

Dr Simone Keizer-Beache, the chief medical officer also commented on differences between the two diseases.

She said while dengue fever and COVID-19 may have similarities, there can still be a differentiation between the two.

“…if you really go into the history and … focus in on the fever, the pattern of the fever, the presence or absence of a cough, a rash – COVID typically doesn’t have the rash that dengue has. The COVID rash is more of a rash of the palms and the feet so the symptoms are not that similar,” the chief medical officer said.

Keizer-Beache added that healthcare professionals were looking out for instances of other mosquito-borne disease like zika and chikungunya “which we haven’t found and any other…viral illnesses which can present with a fever and a rash”.

As at October 6, 655 persons have been confirmed with laboratory tests to have dengue fever.
The October 7 COVID-19 report notes that there are no active cases of COVID-19 in St Vincent and the Grenadines, as all 64 cases that were detected have recovered.