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« Cocaine Gas Tank Explodes in Cochabamba | Home | Sale of Natural Gas to Uruguay Aids in Two Diplomatic Advances » Bolivia is “Area of Alert” as Cases of Dengue Fever RisePosted: admin on Mar 12 | Health On March 11th, Bolivia’s Ministry of Public Health declared that 2,020 suspected cases of dengue fever have been reported thus far in 2010, elevating Bolivia’s epidemiological status to an “area of alarm.”
The 2,020 suspected and 183 confirmed cases come as mixed news for Bolivia. Until this week, Bolivia had been classified as a “secure area,” meaning that the incidence of reported dengue was about the number expected by authorities. Even with this week’s elevation to an “area of alarm,” Bolivia’s dengue condition still reflects an improvement over last year, in which dengue was classified as an “epidemic” in the country after killing 18 people and infecting 31,000.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Public Health maintained that all of this year’s outbreaks have been small relative to last year’s, in part because of increased efforts to spray for mosquitoes and decontaminate the insect’s water sources. “We get approximately 20 to 25 cases each day,” said Juan Carlos Arraya, head of the Epidemiology Unit’s National Program for Vector-Borne Diseases. Arraya insisted that all outbreaks are “under control” and that this year’s dengue incidence is nowhere near last year’s.
Dengue is listed as an endemic in more than 100 countries, and Bolivia is one of a few dozen tropical countries that experiences the most widespread outbreaks of the virus. Although the treatment-to-mortality rates for dengue fever and malaria (both mosquito-borne diseases) are quite high, dengue is unique in that urban residents face just as great a risk of infection as rural ones, as evidenced by this year’s minor outbreaks in the cities of La Paz and Santa Cruz. http://www.elmundo.com.bo/Secundarianew.asp?edicion=11/03/2010&Tipo=Comunidad&Cod=12314 |
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