Topic: Public Health Department

Vaccinations under stage two of government's national COVID-19 inoculation programme will begin Wednesday, the Public Health Department has announced.

Starting Tuesday, 27 Oct., residents will be able to get free flu vaccines across all three islands.

Even though surgical face masks are being snapped up locally, Cayman’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee said they only offer limited protection against viruses.

Government has imposed mandatory quarantine and is working on travel restrictions for travellers and residents who have been to mainland China.

Cayman’s Customs and Border Control officers will be assisted by a Public Health Department staffer to handle health screenings during busy periods at local ports of entry.

Health officials have said they are monitoring a “very small” number of people on island who have travelled from China.

In a travel advisory issued on Thursday morning, the Public Health Department announced that surveillance is being stepped up at Cayman's borders and visitors coming to the Caribbean from coronavirus-affected countries would undergo "entrance screening". 

Dengue cases increase by three.

Local dengue case increases to 23, according to the latest numbers from the Public Health Department.

All students entering government or private schools in the Cayman Islands for the first time will be required to have health screenings before the start of school in September. This includes those entering reception programmes.

Cayman’s Public Health Department issued an alert Friday about an outbreak of measles in Florida and other states in the US.

All students entering school for the first time, either government or private, must have health screenings before the new school year begins in August, the Public Health Department advises.

The Public Health Department is hosting a special immunization clinic on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for children who need vaccinations, including those with missed/outstanding doses.

The Cayman Islands Public Health Department will be offering free screenings for diabetes and hypertension to mark World Health Day.

An outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease that surfaced a few weeks ago is still affecting some schools on Grand Cayman.

The Cayman Island Health Services Authority reported last week that is has not found any more “false-negative” HIV tests since a trio were found from private healthcare facilities last March.

Cayman Islands officials say it is not too late to vaccinate against the flu this season. To encourage more people to do so, free vaccinations are being offered at the General Practice Clinic at the Cayman Islands Hospital and all district health centers from 2-4 p.m.

The Public Health Department released updated statistics on Thursday about the number of influenza cases that have been reported recently, showing a marked increase in flu activity throughout Cayman.

With flu season in full swing, there has been a “marked increase” in the number of influenza cases in the Cayman Islands over the last several weeks, according to Public Health Department Acting Director Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez.

Six days of free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling begin Monday in honor of World AIDS Day. The free tests are being offered Nov. 27-Dec. 2

This year’s flu vaccine has arrived and is now available free of charge to all residents in Cayman, the Public Health Department has advised. “We recommend that people get vaccinated as soon as possible and definitely before the peak of the flu season, which ranges between December and January."

Public health officials Tuesday evening announced the first confirmed case of Zika in a pregnant woman on island. Dr. Samuel Williams Rodriguez, Cayman’s acting medical officer of health, said his department has confirmed seven new cases of the virus.

The staff at Cayman’s Mosquito Research and Control Unit has been putting in long days as they fight to stop Zika transmission in Grand Cayman.

Two more people, both of George Town, have tested positive for the Zika virus, according to the Public Health Department. There are now five confirmed cases of Zika in the Cayman Islands, all of which have been in George Town.

Some pregnant women have left the Cayman Islands and others are putting off moves to Grand Cayman now that there are known local Zika transmissions. But leaving a job and traveling overseas is not an option for many women who are pregnant and couples trying to conceive.

Zika-related travel warnings for tourists, like the one issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show little impact on tourism, based on available data for other Caribbean Islands.

A new government survey found most people on Grand Cayman support the ongoing trial of genetically modified mosquitoes in West Bay.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus is perhaps best known and most feared for causing severe birth defects in babies whose mothers contract the disease while pregnant.

Two people in George Town are Cayman’s first official cases of locally transmitted Zika, according to public health officials. The islands have had six cases of Zika imported by people visiting other countries, but these are the first reported incidents of the virus being acquired locally.

Premier Alden McLaughlin, in a press statement Tuesday, criticized opponents of the genetically modified mosquito program, as the Public Health Department confirmed Cayman’s first local cases of Zika.

The Public Health Department late Monday confirmed the first locally transmitted case of Zika in the Cayman Islands. Previously, there had been seven documented cases that were contracted outside of Cayman, but public health officials confirmed that a man in George Town is the first person confirmed to became infected with Zika in the islands.

The Public Health Department is advising Cayman residents who plan to attend the Summer Olympic Games in Brazil to get vaccinated against measles and rubella.

Public Health Department officials said Wednesday they are awaiting test results on six suspected cases of the Zika virus.

Test results for three out of four samples cases have come back negative from the Caribbean Public Health Agency, Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez said in a press release Friday.

The recent case of Zika possibly linked to Cayman was not spread by local mosquitoes, but was sexually transmitted by a tourist’s partner from St. Maarten, the Cayman Islands Public Health Department said Wednesday.

With the start of the rainy season and the first possible case of Zika linked to Cayman, the Mosquito Research and Control Unit is ramping up its operations to combat nuisance and disease-carrying mosquitoes.

The Cayman Islands is joining other members of the Pan American Health Organization to mark the 14th anniversary of Vaccination Week in the Americas.

Jamaica’s National Virology Laboratory can now test for the Zika virus, becoming the second country in the Caribbean equipped to do so, according to the Jamaica Information Service.

Members of the public can avail themselves of free health screenings this week as part of the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority’s observation of World Health Day.